Collin Schaefer 
The renewal deadline for municipal liquor licenses is coming up soon and because of the coming changes to Wis. Stat. Ch. 125 (2 weeks away!) we’ve gotten a lot of questions about what wineries are supposed to do this year with their license renewals – renew, or not renew? Our suggestion is not to renew. … Read more
I suppose this blog post could be called “All Good Things Must Come to an End.” As part of our series on the changes to Wis. Stat. 125 under Assembly Bill 304 (“AB304“), today we are focusing on some big changes coming down the pipeline for wedding barns and other wedding venues. Read on for … Read more
02/15/24 Update: A previous version of this post mentioned that product produced under a Contract Production agreement (#2 below) could be counted towards a Host’s total production volume for the purposes of Full Service Retail sale privileges under the new statute, that is not the case. Product produced under a contract production agreement\recipe brewing agreement … Read more
The landscape of Wisconsin’s alcoholic beverage regulations has recently undergone substantial changes with the revision of Wis. Stat. Chapter 125. In this post we will be discussing one of the most substantial changes, specifically, the ability of breweries, wineries, and distilleries to offer beer, wine, and spirits (“full service retail” under the new statute) at … Read more
Two days before Christmas Eve 2020, I drafted this blog post regarding the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). As of January 1, 2024, the CTA will be enforced for all new and existing entities. If you’re interested in what the CTA means for your business, please read on. The CTA is set to fundamentally change corporate … Read more
If you’re a small business owner, you’ve likely heard about the proposed rule by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to ban non-compete clauses. You might be wondering what this means for your business and what you should do if the rule becomes law. Let’s break it down.
I originally wrote this post in 2018. While I don’t love utilizing old blog posts, this is an important topic and the fact that more tenants don’t know their rights\get caught in these trap doors, is a personal pet peeve. With COVID dollars drying up and evictions back in person in Milwaukee County, I thought … Read more
Very often we get questions from clients regarding “authorized” – “issued” – and “outstanding” shares and what the terms mean in the context of corporations and raising money. Below is a quick explanation of the terms; thanks for reading. Authorized Shares means the total (read, total ever that could be) shares a Corporation can create or “cut … Read more
Friday May 12, 2023 was a big day here at the office. Thanks to the efforts of City Brewing and Wisconsin Brewing Company, the Department of Revenue issued a declaratory ruling that approved contract production (through Alternating Proprietorships, or straight contract) between distilleries (and by extension and our reading of the statute, wineries too). This … Read more
What happens when two trademarks have the same spelling? Can they coexist? The answer is yes, but with some caveats. The Trademark Act provides for a system of trademark classes to categorize goods and services. Classes 1-34 cover goods, while classes 35-45 cover services. The use of the same trademark is permissible across different classes, … Read more