Saw an update this in the NYT this weekend.

 

(Legal) Moonshiner and University Battle Over Rights to ‘Kentucky’

 

From the link:

 

“The last thing you do is fire off a threatening letter in Eastern Kentucky,” said his lawyer, Jim Francis, who said one of his own ancestors was killed in the region’s infamous Hatfield and McCoy feud. “That only results in one thing: You’ve got a fight on your hands.”

 

Mr. Schlafer, the university athletic official, says the letter was a pro forma entry to negotiations, and insists that the university — whose athletic department generates $123 million a year in revenue, mostly from basketball, football and media rights — has the right to protect “the strength of that brand.” He said mostly, the university wants to keep Mr. Fultz from marketing Kentucky Mist Moonshine shirts in the school’s signature colors, blue and white.

 

“We had always hoped we could have a conversation,” he said.

 

Instead, Mr. Francis — who complains that the university does not pick on big companies, like Kentucky Fried Chicken — filed suit in federal court in Lexington, seeking to force the university to drop its opposition to the trademark. The university has asked a judge to dismiss the case, on the grounds that, as an arm of the state, it has sovereign immunity and cannot be sued. Both sides are hoping for a decision soon.

 

Mr. Francis says that no matter what happens with the trademark application, he expects the sovereign immunity question to go all the way to the Supreme Court.

 

Here in Whitesburg, Mr. Fultz, who could be found one recent afternoon mixing blackberries (his favorite berry for flavoring moonshine) in a stainless steel mash tank, is trying to expand his fledgling business. He traveled to New York not long ago to attend a trade show with fellow distillers and winemakers, where he met with distributors.

 

“We got great feedback from Canada,” he said.

 

He has been campaigning hard for state representative; he has competition in the Republican primary, which is May 17. He insists that he is still an enthusiastic member of the Big Blue Nation: “I mean, everybody around here is a big Wildcats fan.”

That's an awfully broad brush you're painting with...

 

Sometimes a broad brush is appropriate.