The maker of Jack Daniel's has sued the distiller and distributor of a cheaper, rival Tennessee sour mash whiskey, claiming it designed its label and bottle to look deceptively similar to the iconic Jack Daniel's “Old No. 7″ design.

Lawyers for Jack Daniel's Properties Inc., which makes the nation's best-selling whiskey, filed a trademark and trade dress lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on April 20 against the makers of Lonehand Whiskey.

Jack Daniel's complaint contends that Lonehand's makers deliberately copied its trademarked square bottle shape “with angled shoulders, beveled corners, and a ribbed neck.” The complaint also claims that Lonehand has incorporated elements of Jack Daniel's trade dress, including its black cap, black neck wrap, arched lettering of the brand with the word “whiskey” in script, and the words “Tennessee Sour Mash” in the lower portion of the label. Jack Daniel's claims that Lonehand has encouraged retailers to place its product next to Jack Daniel's “and to use promotional materials that employ elements of the Jack Daniels Trade Dress, including white on black shading and arched lettering.”

“Defendants have pursued a pattern of conduct and an intentional business strategy designed to mislead and deceive consumers into believing that the accused whiskies are made, put out, licensed or sponsored by, or affiliated or associated with, Jack Daniel's and thereby to unjustly enrich themselves by capitalizing on the goodwill inherent in the JDPI trademarks and the Jack Daniel's trade dress,” wrote Jack Daniel's lawyers, D. Peter Harvey and Caitlin Conway of San Francisco's Harvey & Co.

The suit brings claims against Dallas-based Dynasty Spirits Inc., which according the complaint distills Lonehand, and Houston-based Buffalo Bayou Distilleries LLC, which the complaint claims labels, packages and ships it. In addition to its trademark and trade dress claims, Jack Daniels is also pursuing a false advertising claim contending that the Lonehand label, which says “ESTD 1983,” is misleading since Dynasty was incorporated in 2012 and Buffalo Bayou Distilleries was formed in 2014.

“By making the accused statement, defendants have materially and deliberately deceived consumers about their history, brand, and accused Tennessee whiskey,” the complaint said.

The complaint also cites recent, highly critical reviews of Lonehand on totalwine.com to make the case that consumers' association of the two whiskeys could dilute the Jack Daniel's brand.

“Do not buy unless its a joke gift i will be dumping out …its that bad,” wrote one review. “This is to Jack Daniels what a pogo stick is to a BMW,” added another.

(As a brief aside, one might fairly ask: “How did this fight over Tennessee whiskey end up in a California federal court?” Although the Jack Daniel's Distillery is located in Lynchburg, Tennessee, JDPI, the owner and licensor of the Jack Daniel's trademark and trade dress, is based in San Rafael, California. Hence, the complaint claims that Northern California is the proper venue.)

Phil Lynch, a spokesman for Jack Daniel's parent company Brown-Forman, said the company “will let the court filing speak for itself.”

Representatives from Dynasty Spirits didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Maria Echeverry, general manager of Buffalo Bayou, declined to comment.

The April 20 suit isn't the first time that Jack Daniel's has gone on the offensive against an upstart brand accused of pilfering its design. In 2013, the company sued the maker of Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey claiming it copied the Jack Daniel's label and bottle design. That litigation settled in 2014 with the maker of Popcorn Sutton's agreeing to change its packaging, according to trade website The Spirits Business.