Brewery owner no longer has rights to use Lake Tahoe Brewing Company name
The owner of the now-closed brewery in downtown Carson City recently lost the right to use the name Lake Tahoe Brewing Company.
Rob Curtis and Eric Bledsoe opened the original Lake Tahoe Brewing Company and Tahoe Basin Beverage in 1993 in Tahoe City. They later opened the Lake Tahoe Brewery in 1999 in Crystal Bay. After that property was sold to Crystal Bay Club, Rob Curtis and Johanna Lasseter-Curtis retained ownership of the Lake Tahoe Brewing Company trademark, and had licensed the name to various contract brewers. The name also adorns the popular "Drink Tahoe Red" bumper sticker, a parody of the ubiquitous "Keep Tahoe Blue" stickers created by the League to Save Lake Tahoe.
Last year, Curtis said he was surprised to see the name on a sign for a new brewery location in Truckee that was being opened by Michael Candelario, who had already opened the brewery in Carson City.
"No one ever contacted us," Curtis said. "He just stole the name and started using it."
Through the couple's lawyer, they contacted Candelario and worked out a licensing agreement to use the name. However, Candelario never made any of the agreed-upon payments, according to Curtis.
When they heard about Candelario's recent arrest for felony theft, the couple took action to terminate the agreement for nonpayment.
Curtis said they may try to seek damages for the negative impact Candelario has done to the Lake Tahoe Brewing Company brand name. He also said they are looking at pursuing other opportunities to use the name, including possibly opening another brewery. Curtis said they might even look at the Carson City brewery location.
"We want people to know that Candelario has nothing to do with the Lake Tahoe Brewing Company name," Curtis said.