In the lawsuit filed 30 June, Dr Pepper Snapple has asked a federal court to terminate its licensing agreement with Dublin Dr Pepper, and to prevent the small bottling company from using the iconic Dublin Dr Pepper name.
The lawsuit also seeks to prevent sales of the ‘one-of-a-kind’ soft drink on Dublin Dr Pepper’s website and toll-free number, in addition to asking for attorneys’ fees.
The federal court claim came as a surprise to the independent bottler following decades of support, endorsement and encouragement from its corporate partner.
The original Dr Pepper recipe has been produced in the small west Texas town of Dublin since the late 1800s. As the city’s largest private employer, Dublin Dr Pepper helps generate significant city and county tax revenue by hiring local employees and drawing more than 80,000 visitors to the community every year.
“Dublin Dr Pepper has been a loyal and committed supporter of the Dr Pepper brand longer than any other bottler,” said attorney Steven Wolens of Dallas, a principal in McKool Smith and counsel for the Texas-based company. “Despite benefiting from the relationship with Dublin Dr Pepper for more than 120 years, Dr Pepper Snapple has turned its back on Dublin and the goodwill among the thousands of people who love this true Texas treasure that comes in an 8oz bottle.”
This response from Dublin Dr Pepper cites internal and external corporate documents from before the lawsuit was filed that show various inconsistent positions taken by Dr Pepper Snapple, including its support of the Dublin brand for decades and promoting online and phone sales of Dublin Dr Pepper despite complaining of the same thing in its lawsuit.
The response includes archival examples of the Dr Pepper Snapple corporate website from earlier this year with links that directed customers to the Dublin Dr Pepper website and toll-free number. Those links no longer are posted. Also noted are bottlers in North Carolina and Missouri that, like Dublin Dr Pepper, currently use the Dr Pepper name in conjunction with their brands and sell their products online. Those companies have not been sued like the Texas-based bottler.
Source: Dublin Dr Pepper
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