Angostura Queen’s Park Swizzle: More Than an Ounce of IP in Your Favourite Cocktail

-

Angostura Queen’s Park Swizzle

Dareem Scipio*


If you are a cocktail lover, then you might already be familiar with the Queen’s Park Swizzle® cocktail. A rich blend of rum and the signature Angostura® Aromatic bitters, this classic cocktail has its birthplace in Trinidad and Tobago. The cocktail, which derives its name from the Queen’s Park Hotel where it was first created over 100 years ago is now popular with mixologists around the world and brings delight to the tastebuds of cocktail lovers far and wide.


While the cocktail has a rich history, it is also embedded with more than an “oz” of intellectual property which adds tremendous value to the overall product. The cocktail's signature name ‘QUEEN’S PARK SWIZZLE’ has been registered as a trademark by Angostura Ltd in Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Mexico and Canada . BUT… have no fear! This does not mean that you cannot decide to make your own cocktail at home. Neither does it mean that mixologists at your favourite pubs are prohibited from mixing up this classic drink for you on your next visit. This might have been the case if Angostura had decided to keep the recipe for the cocktail as a trade secret, but luckily for you, they have not done so.

 

The registration of the trademark by Angostura only means that persons are not allowed to commercialise the cocktail’s recipe using the registered trademark name without having some type of agreement with Angostura. For example, another rum company cannot now create a similar cocktail and attempt to brand it as ‘Queen’s Park Swizzle’ in one of the aforementioned countries.


This is simply an example of IP being everywhere, even in things that we eat and drink! As a bonus, I have included a link listing the ingredients and method required for the cocktail, so you can mix up your own! Cheers! - recipe here.


* Author can be contacted at studentscipio@gmail.com



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Securing Copyright In Soca Music

-
  Securing Copyright in Soca Music Vasha Maharaj* Copyright law and soca have a challenging relationship. It must be considered how to protect original works while allowing the genre with its sharing norms to flourish. The judgement in  Full Blown Entertainment [1]   was unable to adequately address this concern. [2]  Specifically, the Trinidad and Tobago law on copyright sits uneasily with riddim culture, generic cultural references and music sampling and interpolation that is prevalent in the soca industry. Therefore, this blog post offers insight into some of the challenges concerning soca music and copyright law in Trinidad and Tobago. Full Blown Entertainment v Matthews The court held that the phrase, ‘wine with no worries’ and its syncopation did not meet the requisite originality standard to attract copyright protection. Justice Seepersad argued that the words comprise ‘elements of the genre’ of soca, the implication of which holds them to be too generic to sa...
Read more

Licks for 'Lick'

-
  Licks for 'Lick' Dr Justin Koo Shenseea and Megan Thee Stallion’s song ‘ Lick ’ has been subject to major attention and scrutiny due to allegations of copyright infringement. ‘Lick’ reproduced the phrase ‘put your back in it’ made famous by the song ‘ Put Your Back In It ’ that went viral as a result of a TikTok challenge featuring the song. However, the origin of ‘put your back in it’ is derived from an earlier song performed by Belfon in 2001 entitled ‘ Work ’.  The controversy with ‘Lick’ surrounds the use of the lyrics ‘put your back in it’ and two samples from ‘Work’ that Anastas Hackett alleges were used without permission. For the purpose of clarity, it is important to note that copyright in a single song can involve different layers – the lyrics (words), the composition (melody/background music), the performance (actual singing or playing of the music) and the production (mixing and mastering of the sound recording). Each of these elements attract copyright or neighb...
Read more

Broadcasting Bacchanal: Watching Football and Copyright Law

-
  Broadcasting Bacchanal:  Watching Football and Copyright Law Dr Justin Koo With the launch of the 2022/2023 English Premier League football season, there is once again controversy in the Caribbean region concerning broadcasting rights. There is nothing new about this scenario as ever so often there is news about conflict pertaining to which entity has the broadcast rights to the latest sporting event. Disputes over broadcast rights have been litigated in the Jamaican court system on at least two occasions concerning the broadcasting of the 2015 World Athletic Championships [1]  and the 2014 IAAF Diamond League. [2] The latest controversy concerning the broadcasting rights for the 2022/2023 Premier League football season begins with the rights being granted to a new entity, Verticast, for the entire Caribbean region. [3] Subsequent to the grant of the broadcast rights to Verticast, territorial sub-licences have been made to a number of different broadcasters and cable co...
Read more

The Cost of Copyright Infringement

-
  The Cost of Copyright Infringement Justin Koo Copyright cases in the Commonwealth Caribbean are rare. Admittedly, they have become more frequent in recent years as awareness about intellectual property rights increases. However, the development of copyright jurisprudence remains slow and at best patchy. Nonetheless, the recent dispute of  Drakes v Grant [1]  offers insight into copyright proceedings from start to finish, that is from allegation of infringement to a finding of infringement and finally the award of damages. Specifically, in the context of Trinidad and Tobago,  Drakes v Grant  was the first successful infringement case concerning the right of reproduction and as such is an important case given the general lack of copyright litigation. Recap of Case Drakes v Grant  concerned the unauthorised reproduction of the claimant’s photograph depicting Peter Minshall’s costume ‘The Dying Swan, Ras Nijinsky in Drag as Pavlova’. The photograph was used t...
Read more