WILLIAMSPORT — The 80-year-old owner of Sports Beer Brewing Co. reportedly has registered website domain names containing “Penn State” as the university’s trademark infringement suit against him winds through federal court.
In a filing Monday in U.S. Middle District Court the university identifies the new sites as “pennstatenittany.beer” and “pennstatehappyvalleybeer.com.”
Paul L. Parshall of Naples, Fla., contends he has obtained trademarks that give him the right sell beer, cigars and other items using the names of numerous professional and college teams.
Penn State last year filed suit when he claimed he owned the trademarks for Penn State Nittany Beer, Penn State Nittany Brewing and Penn State Nittany Cigars.
Parshall, who is representing himself, contends the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted him a registration mark for Penn State Nittany Beer but the university says his application was rejected.
Penn State’s suit seeks an injunction to stop the alleged trademark infringement and up to $2 million for each trademark willfully counterfeited and infringed.
Parshall has pointed out Penn State sells neither beer nor cigars while the university says he has not received authorization to use the Penn State name.
He has been criticized and sanctioned by Judge Jennifer P. Wilson for not adhering to her orders during the course of the litigation.
In May he was ordered to pay attorneys representing Penn State $9,493 because he failed to provide required discovery material.
Parshall has filed a summary judgment motion which, if granted, would dismiss the suit.
The university argues he is not entitled to a summary judgment because he has not established he owns the disputed trademarks as a matter of law.
The Sports Beer Brewing website lists the many trademarks Parshall claims to have obtained that gives the company the right to sell beer and other items containing the names of numerous college and professional teams.
When asked by Penn State attorneys during a recent deposition when he came up with the idea to use professional and college sports teams for selling beer, cigars and other items, Parshall said about four years ago.
“I’m very creative” he said when asked what was the inspiration for the company. “I have a lot of patents and a lot of ideas I work on.”
Parshall also claims to have suffered two strokes and does not travel.
He saw the opportunity to make money because he said brewing companies claimed tailgaters would want to drink the beer of their favorite team.
When pressed on what brewing company gave him that advice he said he could not remember but claimed to have spoken with hundreds of them.
Parshall said he contacted two breweries in the State College area but never heard back from them. He said he could not recall with whom he spoke.
He claims to have registered trademarks at the state level for all the college and professional teams listed on his website.
When asked why he chose them, he said, “Because the majority of sports fans are drinkers. That’s the bottom line. They’re going to spend money.”
He does not have every college listed because he has not gotten to every one yet.
“Give me time,” he said. “I can only do so much a day.”
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