Beer and Wine are STILL Related Goods says the US Patent and Trademark Office

Even Gallo can't get the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to change its mind about whether beer and wine are related goods. The relatedness of beer and wine (and spirits too) is a long standing policy of the USPTO (and some federal courts) and despite the efforts of "big gun" trademark owners like Gallo, the policy still stands, see: http://thettablog.blogspot.com/2009/09/finding-wine-and-beer-related-ttab.html

What this means is that you can't register a mark for wine, if it is already registered for beer. This is a major headache for some wine, beer and spirits manufacturers that know the products are marketed very differently, and take the position that there would be no likelihood of consumer confusion even if the names are identical. That said, this continued policy may be a boon for trademark registrants because it provides strong protection across the alcoholic beverage market space. So, for now, the moral of the story is, if you have a mark that is clear of conflicts across the alcoholic beverage market space, register the mark to gain broad protection.