Bernhard Pillep (Giesinger Bräu): “Choosing the right brands and protecting them effectively is crucial to our success”

Leaders League: Tell us about the origins of Giesinger Bräu.
Bernhard Pillep: The brewery was founded by our first brewmaster, Tobias, and our manager, Steffen, who continues to run the brewery today. They invested all their savings (and borrowed some from family and friends), purchased brewing equipment, and started brewing in 2006 in a garage in Munich’s Giesing district. They originally named the brewery “Bierlaboratorium.”

Shortly after they launched, I joined them, and we made a handshake agreement that each of us would own a third of the company. I also contributed some capital, as promised. It wasn’t until the end of 2007 that we officially signed a contract, incorporated the business, and renamed it Giesinger Biermanufaktur und Spezialitäten Braugesellschaft, or Giesinger Bräu for short.

The original idea was to create new fruit beer varieties to complement and expand the selection of beers available in Munich. However, it didn’t take long for people in the Giesing district to discover that a new brewery had opened ─ and they simply demanded "real beer." In response, we shifted our focus to classic Bavarian beer styles like Helles and Weissbier.

Back then, for many locals it was a completely new experience to be able to visit a brewery, meet the people behind the beer, taste it fresh and buy it on the spot. Our ambition was to offer beer that was as fresh as possible, in contrast to the mass-produced beers from the big breweries. In a way, it was similar to the US microbrewery movement of the 1980s.

There are six major breweries in Munich. What challenges has Giesinger faced in establishing itself in the city’s ultra-competitive beer market?
For a brewery to grow, scaling up comes with significant costs, as increasing capacity requires investing in larger, more expensive equipment. In the early years, operating out of a garage, we made no profit ─ quite the opposite ─ so securing the necessary financing for our next growth steps was a major challenge.

Fortunately, we found a bold bank willing to grant us a loan, which we supplemented with investments from silent shareholders. However, the largest pillar of our financing has been multiple rounds of crowdfunding. Around 9,000 investors to date have contributed between €100 and €5,000 to our brewery. Another challenge was to open new distribution channels as we grew.

How does Giesinger differentiate itself from well-known Munich breweries like Hofbräuhaus or Augustiner?
We are recognized as a young and alternative option compared to Munich’s well-established breweries. For example, we primarily use Facebook and Instagram for advertising, and we make our brewery and team easily accessible through brewery tours and festivals at our premises. We also keep our silent shareholders and crowdfunding supporters regularly informed via email, reaching around 10,000 people in this way.

Hofbräu ─ and even more so, Augustiner ─ are still widely seen by Munich locals as true Munich breweries because they have maintained many brewing traditions. Augustiner, in particular, has stayed true to its roots, while Hofbräu has preserved its identity to a reasonable extent. Both are still privately owned (Augustiner) or state-owned (Hofbräu). We differentiate ourselves even further from the other major Munich breweries, as Paulaner/Hacker-Pschorr (partly owned by Heineken) and Spaten/Löwenbräu (owned by AB InBev) rely entirely on industrial brewing processes and are increasingly no longer perceived as “true” Munich breweries.

Giesinger is working towards becoming part of the city’s famed Oktoberfest. How likely is this aim?
Who gets to supply beer to Oktoberfest is a highly political matter in Munich. In fact, no new breweries have been admitted for at least the last 50 years! We have already held discussions with members of all political parties on Munich City Council and will continue to do so. Additionally, in March of this year, we hosted a Starkbier (strong beer) Festival in a large tent at our brewery site, to showcase our ability to run a beer-tent at Oktoberfest.

There is no formal process for admitting a brewery to sell beer at Oktoberfest. Instead, the Betriebsverordnung (operating regulation) states: “Only Munich beer from efficient and proven traditional Munich breweries (currently: Augustinerbrauerei, Hacker-Pschorr-Brauerei, Löwenbrauerei, Paulanerbrauerei, Spatenbrauerei and Staatliches Hofbräuhaus), which complies with the Munich Purity Law of 1487 and the German Purity Law of 1906, may be served to visitors at the Wiesn." To include us, this regulation would need to be amended by the City Council. Given that Oktoberfest generates over a billion euros annually for the city, you can imagine how highly political it is to get such a change approved.

One of the most significant milestones on our journey to Oktoberfest has been the installation of a deep well at our new, larger brewing site in northern Munich, which we opened in 2020. Using water from this well satisfies a key requirement for being able to call our beers Münchener Bier (Munich beer) according to the protected geographical indication. With this latest expansion, we also greatly increased our production capacity, and we believe we now meet the criteria of being an "efficient and proven" brewery. As I mentioned, hosting a tent at our premises to celebrate our strong beer demonstrated our ability to successfully manage such an event. The final piece of the puzzle is proving our "tradition" as a Munich brewery, but of course, the other breweries have a head start of several centuries in that regard.

What types of intellectual property rights are important in the brewing industry?
In the brewing industry, the most important intellectual property assets are typically brands and logos, which are protected by trademarks, along with the recipes used to produce different beer varieties ─ these are usually kept as trade secrets. Patents play a lesser role, as the brewing process itself is well known. Similarly, design protection is generally of limited importance. However, in our case, we developed a new beer bottle (see discussion below) for which we obtained an EU design right. Another highly valuable IP asset for us is that most of our beers meet the criteria for the EU-protected geographical indication (PGI) "Münchener Bier," which we actively use as a marketing tool.

Has Giesinger had to register trademarks for its beer names or logos? What was that process like?
Yes, we have registered our main logos as figurative marks and several of our beer names as word marks. The registration process itself is straightforward ─ simply apply for the trademarks and have them registered. However, the real challenge lies in developing strong trademarks and designing distinctive logos. Before settling on our current logo, which we still use today, we went through two previous designs for our brewery. Additionally, we have our own custom typography ─ also protected by registration ─ which plays an important role in our branding and marketing. We don’t have IR (International Register) trademarks in the strict sense, but we do have national trademark registrations (or pending applications) in several countries worldwide, including the EU, Switzerland, the US, China, Korea, Japan, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Chile.

Are there specific patents related to the brewing process, packaging, or any innovations at Giesinger?
When we decided to offer our beers in what we call small bottles (0.33-liter instead of the standard 0.5-liter bottles common in Bavaria), we weren’t satisfied with the existing bottle shapes. So, we designed our own 0.33-liter bottle and registered it as an EU design. This decision proved to be a great success: Over 100 breweries now use our bottle, and more than 60 million units have been sold. This has provided us with a nice licensing revenue stream.

Have you had any legal disputes centered on intellectual property issues, such as brand names, recipes or brewing techniques?
Yes, back when we were still brewing in the garage, we produced about 100 bottles of a strong beer we named Delirium, unaware that this was a registered trademark (the one with the pink elephant logo) owned by the Belgian Huyghe Brewery. We quickly resolved the issue by agreeing to discontinue the name. Instead, we rebranded the beer as Sternhagel, which is a German slang term for being very drunk. Additionally, we filed a design infringement claim against a German glass manufacturer that was selling bottles similar to our custom 0.33-liter design, which was registered as an EU design. Unfortunately, our claims were ultimately rejected.   

What role does brand protection play in marketing and expansion?
We believe that choosing the right brands and protecting them effectively is crucial to our success. For instance, selecting the name “Giesinger Bräu” was a strategic decision, as Giesing is known as Munich’s blue-collar district and is instantly associated with high-quality beer. For our logo, we chose the Heilig Kreuz Church, the most prominent church in Giesing, and had the design created to ensure it stands proudly alongside the logos of Munich’s established breweries.

Have you faced any challenges with counterfeit products or unauthorized use of the Giesinger brand?
So far, there have been no issues in Germany, as beer is difficult to counterfeit. However, we have encountered cases of unauthorized exports to countries such as Russia.

What are the brewery’s plans for future growth and expansion beyond Munich?
In Munich, we have begun opening Stehausschank bars (similar to taprooms), which not only help increase our production capacity but also raise awareness of our brewery. Additionally, we provide beer to various festivals in and around Munich using our beer truck, where fresh beer is tapped directly for the event. Across Germany, we have established distribution agreements with beverage distributors, and internationally, we are steadily expanding our exports to Italy, Spain, Austria and the US, with volumes growing each year.

What advice would you give to other breweries as regards protecting their intellectual property?
Protection of the main brand through trademark(s) is the most crucial step, as this is the only way to safeguard the reputation the brand has build over time. Depending on the available budget, additional labels or logos can also be protected. The recipes for the beers should, of course, be safeguarded as trade secrets. However, if entirely new products are developed, also seeking patent/design protection should be considered. The best approach in this regard is to seek advice from an experienced patent attorney whenever these matters arise.

Sophie Vanheeghe Stevenard