Houston Business & Commercial Law Blog

Two beer companies that produce some of the most popular brews in Texas and around the country are engaged in an ongoing legal battle. MillerCoors and Pabst Brewing are headed toward a November trial on a contract dispute involving the brewing agreement between the companies. Under a contract that has been in place for decades, MillerCoors brews all of Pabst's beers, including its most popular name, Pabst Blue Ribbon. This agreement is scheduled to come to an end in 2020, and it includes two renewal options. However, MillerCoors has cast doubt on the continuation of the agreement, noting that it may not have the ability to keep up the relationship.

However, for Pabst, the stakes are particularly high. It is prohibitively expensive to build a new brewery, and only a small number of U.S. breweries can generate the type of volume needed for Pabst's beer production. Pabst has filed a $500 million lawsuit against MillerCoors, accusing the other beer company of breach of contract, breach of anti-competition laws, misrepresentation and fraud. MillerCoors, on the other hand, avers that it has the right to decide whether it is able to renew the contract.

Texas businesses that offer benefits that are governed by ERISA understand that they must comply with the law or face lawsuits. Recently, an ERISA lawsuit that was filed by employees of Deutsche Bank against the company was partly dismissed.

Class action status was granted in September 2017 after the lawsuit was initially filed in December 2015. The employees alleged that Deutsche Bank included high-cost investment products in its 401(k) in order to benefit the bank. Deutsche Bank offered its employees 22 different funds from which they could choose, and it owned 10 of the funds.

Warehouses in Texas and throughout the country have risen in demand in recent years. In the first three months of 2018, industrial retail sales were $16 billion, which is a 20 percent increase from a year ago. Furthermore, vacancy rates are down to 5.1 percent. Industrial spaces have become more popular because they don't take as much money to own and operate. They are also in demand because of the rise of e-commerce.

Since companies want to ship items to consumers faster, they need to be stored closer to the consumer. As demand increases, property owners could see rents go up by 10 percent or more per year. However, before a person chooses to buy an industrial property, it is important to pick a design that allows for the right tenant. It is also important to buy in a market where vacancy rates are low such as Oakland, Atlanta or Seattle.

Consumers in Texas might not realize the legal difficulties that sometimes flare up among their favorite fashion brands. For example, luxury brand Gucci has been battling Guess for nine years in multiple countries. Gucci alleged that the diamond pattern logo for Guess represented a direct copy of its trademark. After litigating the issue around the world, the companies announced that they have settled their disagreements concerning intellectual property.

The companies did not share the terms of the settlement, but pending court cases in China, France, Australia and Italy have been concluded. The claims of infringement started in 2009 when Gucci sued Guess within the United States. The luxury brand's suit argued that Guess had counterfeited its products to gain an unfair advantage through trademark infringement. The interlocking Gs on a style of Guess shoes formed the heart of the case because Gucci said it confused consumers about the brand of the product. This allegedly caused financial harm to Gucci.