Brothers Alvaro and Oscar Ballesteros founded Duff Sudamerica in Bogota in 2007, registering the trade mark the following year. According to the Colombia Reports website, the brothers argue the Duff brand cannot belong to News Corp subsidiary 20th Century Fox as it only appears ‘in a fictional world’.
DuH!
Alicia Lloreda, a Colombian lawyer for the studio, begged to differ, stating: ‘The fact that 20th Century Fox does not have such a product in the market does not mean they can take advantage of a brand.’
Despite the brewers changing the name of the beer to ‘DuH’ – stylising the capital H to look like a double f – Colombian regulators have now ruled that the brothers must cease production and distribution.
Duff Sudamerica lawyer Santiago Mora said the brewers will appeal the decision, adding: ‘We are not going to let ourselves be frightened by a multinational.’
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