38 Degrees Blindsided By Carlsbad Restaurant Owner
Earlier this week, The Full Pint was tipped off by The Carlsbad Patch that a restaurant called Catch Carlsbad would be rebranding into 38º Carlsbad. Crazier than those string of words, was the fact that the publication Carlsbad Patch assumed that this was an expansion of Clay Harding’s craft beer bar, 38 Degreees Ale House and Grill in Alhambra, CA. After Carlsbad Patch was informed there was no affliation between the two restaurants, we reached out to both Clay Harding of 38 Degrees and Mayur Pavagadhi, the gentleman turning his seafood restaurant into a craft beer restaurant called 38º Carlsbad. Mayur owns other restaurants in the area under the name Paon Carlsbad LLC.
We reached out to Clay Harding of 38 Degrees, who had this to say: “My brand 38 Degrees has symbolized and represented an enormous amount of good will in craft beer culture and our community since 2009. Confusion of the proposed Carlsbad location and mine is inevitable as folks were already mislead and commenting on “our arrival” into Carlsbad Village on internet sites. As I continue my expansion process of other 38 Degrees Ale House & Grill’s I would like any persons in a town I open in to feel comfortable and confident that they will enjoy the same great experience the name 38 Degrees portrays. I have and will always support those who spread the word, educate, brew and sell real, live craft beers. I would welcome them as a brother in arms if they opened with an original name and look that defines who they think they are.”
It should be no secret to many of our local fans that we are close with 38 Degrees, as they started around the same time we did years ago, and is the closest quality craft beer bar to our headquarters. While as of press, Clay does not hold any trademarks to 38 Degrees, he has clearly had the name since early 2009, and has been known in the craft beer industry as a second generation so-cal publican since the 90’s. We asked Clay what he desires and what he plans on doing. “I will be making some phone calls, and seeing what I can do to protect my property.” “The color scheme and font used on their logo is very similar to my logo, even The Patch was confused that this wasn’t an expansion of my restaurant in Alhambra, just to demonstrate the confusion this is already causing.”
While we are happy customers of 38 Degrees Alhambra, we wanted to hear the other side of the story, and reached out to Mayur Pavagadhi for his thoughts on the matter. We asked him how he came up with the idea to transform his seafood restaurant into 38 Degrees. He responded: “Craft beer is obviously a very popular market and decided this would be a great venture to get into. I sat down with my partners and did a search for 38 Degrees Carlsbad, and there were no registered marks for it. The term 38 Degrees is the temperature in which we are asked by the beer industry to keep our walk in keg cooler, we felt this was a great name to use.”
In regards to the pictures shown on Carlsbad Patch of the restaurant having a very similar logo including font and font color, he said “I drive by a realtor every morning, they have this bright orange font that really catches my eye. I thought that would be the perfect color for our signage. We have only started rebranding last week, and the second half of the sign, which will read ‘Carlsbad’ will make it more clear that we aren’t the same. I spoke with the owner of 38 Degrees in Alhambra, and told him that if it was his mark, he should have registered it. I don’t want to go the legal route on this, but I have spent too much money to change the name at this point. I was contacted by a pretty big craft brewery here in San Diego about this, and my phone has been off the hook. There is a big difference between 38 Degrees Ale House and 38 Degrees Carlsbad.”
At this point in my conversation, I wanted clarity as to what he would do at this point. Mayur said “I have registered the name adn won’t give that up. Nobody wins taking the legal route, so myself and Mr. Clay will have to sit down and talk. If we go the legal route, the lawyers get the money.”
My final question to Mayur was if he had done a Google search prior to registering the name. “I did do a search, and I found 38 Degrees Ale House in Alhambra. We are 38 Degrees Carlsbad. If I was Clay, I would be happy to have the publicity. If this was reversed, I would not make a fuss. I am a very easy going person.”
We will continue to cover this story as it unfolds. After gathering this information, it would seem that Mr. Pavagadhi is using the legal system and a little bit of the game of chicken with Mr. Harding. As Mayur so astutely put it, the craft industry is all lovey dovey, and that may play to the advantage of Clay and 38 Degrees Ale House and Grill.
Link to article on Carlsbad Patch with pictures.
A trip in the Wayback Machine for Catch Carlsbad, the former restaurant on Carlsbad Drive now known as 38º Carlsbad
February 28, 2013 @ 6:05 pm
Crisis over. The Carlsbad sign now says 83 degrees. Simple as switching the numbers.
February 26, 2013 @ 10:38 pm
Mayur is a raging alcoholic…and obviously not very creative. Trying to strong arm your own employees is one thing…but trying to strong arm someone else’s business out of greed? That’s not what I would call easy going behavior. What a joke. I’m sure it will go the same way as catch, straight down the drain. Somebody should audit this guy.
February 26, 2013 @ 6:31 am
DISAPPOINTING!
“Short Cuts” going into a business venture will only produce another failure like the one that he closed “Catch Restaurant”.
February 24, 2013 @ 9:13 pm
So a patron in Carlsbad that has no idea about 38 Degrees in Los Angeles is going to somehow get them confused. I doubt it. I’m a big craft beer guy in San Diego and I’ve never even heard of the other 38 Degrees. Why? Because it’s in freaking LA. You all are ridiculous and making a big deal about nothing. And you are all assuming that he had bad intentions. The guy runs a French joint, I highly doubt he had any clue about this other place. When I walk in to Burger Palace in San Diego, I don’t relate it at all to the one in NY, why?, because they are two different places. Stop being petty and trying to ruin another small business owner.
February 21, 2013 @ 6:51 pm
There is legal recourse. It sounds as though trade dress is binging infringed upon at the very least. Its important that the craft beer community try to protect its good name…but it can be expensive to stop. The problem becomes when people realize that and try to abuse the good name of the business because nobody fights it.
February 20, 2013 @ 5:53 pm
I can’t help but feel that Carlsbad is just trying to take advantage of 38 degrees and the good reputation. That’s not fair to the consumer. Be original and come-up with your own stuff people! I personally don’t want to go to the cheap rip-off of 38 degrees and want to OG version so hence I won’t be going to the one in Carlsbad. Why don’t they just name it Blue Palms Carlsbad or Library Ale House Carlsbad or Beachwood BBQ Carlsbad? It’s pretty pathetic.
February 19, 2013 @ 11:55 pm
You don’t normally put the name of the city your establishment is in unless theres another one associated with it some where else. Just the fact that they’re putting “Carlsbad” after 38 Degrees makes it even more confusing.
February 19, 2013 @ 9:14 pm
Steve Rodriguez, don’t be a douche. If you spent years building a reputation, and someone tries to steal that reputation by stealing your name, it doesn’t matter if you’re 100 miles away in different markets. When patrons google 38 degrees, they’re gonna assume that 38 degrees- Carlsbad is associated with Alhambra, just like Pizza Port San Clemente and Pizza Port Carlsbad???…..ridiculously stupid response Steve…..
February 19, 2013 @ 6:29 pm
I go to Carlsbad from time to time in search of beer and beach. I will not be a patron of that restaurant. I might go picket for awhile before and after I eat and drink a lot at Pizza Port.
February 19, 2013 @ 4:28 pm
Could you please send me Mr. Pavagahdi’s contact information? I’d like to let him know that I will be informing my distributor to not sell my brands to his establishment until the time that he comes up with a more unique, not so confusing name that might confuse my potential customers.
February 19, 2013 @ 3:55 pm
Totally agree with Patrick.
Pavagadhi’s history and pettifogging responses in this article are indicative of a money hungry scumbag with no real passion for the business he’s putting up – whether it were a beer bar, pet store (or something that would fit closer to home) a mall cart selling fake purses.
My beef is that I do have a feeling his idea of a craft beer bar is selling shock top and blue moon with happy hour being $5 bud light and PBR;and he’ll charge $2 extra for corona and heineken because they’re “imports”. Chimay is “special” and will only cost you $20/bottle. As for food, since he’s already on a bandwagon, he’ll have (fake) kobe sliders and korean tacos. ….
Those types of places really are becoming copy/paste. makes me sick. Completely confuses people as to what real craft beer is. And in such a craft brewing mecca as Southern California, this shouldn’t be happening.
It would be wild, however, if pavagadhi really does concentrate and make a beer bar that has a fine line up of craft beers from breweries all over the state and beyond, and does a decent menu of good and reasonably priced food. But then he’d probably have a carbon copy of 38 degrees alhambra
February 19, 2013 @ 3:31 pm
The guy in Carlsbad seems like the typical stereotype of a shady business man. Let him open up a “McDonalds – Carlsbad” restaurant and see what happens. Ha! So instead he picks on a small business that has a very good reputation in the craft beer community, trying to profit off the assumption that people are going to make that the two are related.
We the people of the craft beer community are a pretty intelligent and cohesive group on average and it is up to us to educate the non beer geek masses that the Carlsbad location is a pirate and should not be patronized. If you are in Carlsbad and wish to have a craft beer, may I suggest visiting Pizza Port. When the snake goes out of business, hopefully he will learn his lesson.
February 19, 2013 @ 3:23 pm
Is this guy serious?! ”Craft beer is obviously a very popular market and decided this would be a great venture to get into.” WOW. You know what? My normal daily business consists of being a bee hiver, but this fast food thing sounds popular! So I’m going to open a fast food place with a drive thru and call it Burger King Los Angeles! Aren’t I the master of originality??? 😀
What a Delta Bravo.
February 19, 2013 @ 2:26 pm
Don;t we have two unrelated restaurants 100 feet from each other both using the name “Knockout”in their title?
What about West Bistro (a high end restaurant) and West Buffet (a low end, all-you-can-eat) restaurant.
If 38 Degrees has the same execution as Paon and The Catch, I wouldn’t worry about them long term.
February 19, 2013 @ 2:11 pm
I’m bummed because the neighborhood needs something new in this space. Catch was an aesthetic and (apparently) a business failure. Horrific brand, and expensive (for the neighborhood and sheer size and vibe of the space). This feels like a trend play, to try and recover the investment in the space. And a bit disingenuous from the owner’s tone. The fact they’re hanging their hat on craft beer to a certain extent, and have already alienated an established member of that community is not a good start. We’ll have to see how well planned, executed and priced the menu is.
February 15, 2013 @ 7:52 pm
This is ridiculous. You are talking about 2 establishment 100 mules apart and in two different major metropolitan areas. The one in Carlsbad is not going to be a brewery, don’t know where that came from. Everyone needs to calm down and realize that 38 degrees is a common thing in the beer world. Leave a small business owner alone and understand from what it seems no one was trying to do anything wrong here.
February 14, 2013 @ 8:53 pm
This is another instance of what is becoming a rather common occurrence and an alarming trend in the craft brewing world – micro/craft brewery opens up, becomes successful and is sued for either trademark infringement or in this instance has their name misappropriated but has no legal recourse. Ultimately the brewery has to hire lawyers in an attempt to clean up the mess which could have been avoided if the name/trademark issue had initially been investigated and dealt with.
We saw this in Denver with the situation involving Strange Brewing/Strange Brew Homebrew Shop from out East recently. This only ended well for Strange Brew because of the groundswell of local and national support, but I see this as the exception and not the rule in the future.
It puzzles me that someone or a group of individuals that are going through all of the time/expense of opening a brewery would go through all of the prep work necessary to open a brewery but won’t take the time and won’t spend a few more dollars to hire an attorney and trademark their name, copyright their logo, etc. This should be the first order of business before anything else.
There was a thread on another blog recently about a guy in the process of opening “Crooked Run” brewing. I commented that this name was very close (too close if you ask me) to “Crooked Stave”/Chad Jacobsen’s brewery in Denver. I also stated that the first thing that they should do before they go any further is to get clearance (in writing) from Chad that it is all right to use “Crooked” in the brewery name (I am assuming that Crooked Stave has trademarked their name but who knows).
February 14, 2013 @ 3:01 pm
it’s pretty easy to figure this out… 38° Ale House has first use rights whether they registered the trademark or not. if people show ANY kind of confusion about the brand, ie ending up at one place when they meant the other then a judge or arbitration panel will rule against the newer business.
second, if the other guys register the mark it can be contested simply by the owner saying, “we’ve been in business continuously since 199X here are some sales reciepts that prove that.” done. they don’t get the mark.
February 14, 2013 @ 2:59 pm
There must be legal precedent. Can you say “cease and desist?” Arf.
February 14, 2013 @ 2:11 pm
I hate to use the term but this Mayur Pavagadhi guy really does come off as a snake
“I spoke with the owner of 38 Degrees in Alhambra, and told him that if it was his mark, he should have registered it.”
What an Ass-hat
February 14, 2013 @ 1:13 pm
It’s a shame Clay hadn’t registered 38 degrees as a trademark. When I heard about this last night, I googled 38 degrees thinking it would be a pretty common name for a beer bar/ale house and only Alhambra came up, so clearly, it seems 38 degrees Carlsbad is trying to play off of that name. Hopefully it doesn’t have to go the legal route, but Carlsbad should definitely change the name to something at least a little original.