Philadelphia-based Stateside Vodka is suing Anheuser-Busch InBev, claiming the company’s recently launched canned cocktails copied the design of its highly successful Surfside brand, writes Emma Dooling for the Philadelphia Business Journal.
The lawsuit was filed earlier this week in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The local spirits company claims that the alcoholic beverage giant’s Skimmers line of hard iced tea and lemonade ready-to-drink products copied the overall look and feel of Surfside, which has offered hard iced tea and lemonade varieties since 2022. Skimmers debuted in April 2025.
Stateside is requesting that the judge issue an injunction requiring Anheuser-Busch to cease using the similar trade dress and immediately turn over all products and materials featuring the design to Stateside. The lawsuit further requests that Anheuser-Busch pay Stateside the full profits earned from Skimmers’ sales.
Stateside highlighted three features that make the cans look strikingly similar: a color-banded gradient along the bottom, a white background with a sun behind the logo, and the matching colored rim at the top.
An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said the company finds the lawsuit to be “without merit and will vigorously defend against it.”
Read more about Stateside Vodka and its lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch in the Philadelphia Business Journal.
_____
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on PHILADELPHIA.Today in October 2025.
