Wine sector first quite a feat
By Wine Atlas, Wednesday 7 December 2005 :: Wine - Australia :: #91 :: rss
As Australian wine companies retreat from the use of European geographic regions in relation to their products, one Western Australian wine producer has managed to hold firm.
While European names such as Burgundy and Champagne have been gradually forced from local labels, WA’s Feet First has survived a challenge to its name resulting from similarities with the wine growing region of First, in Germany.
Following a treaty signed in 1992, wine makers have been required to phase out the use of more than 3,000 European geographical regions to represent wines that do not include grapes from that region.
The best known case involves the the French region of Champagne, with Australian wine makers re-branding to ‘sparkling wines’.
Other names now barred from use include Chablis, Cognac, claret, Marsala and Moselle.
Last week, WA Business News reported that WA winery Houghton Wines has re-branded its iconic White Burgundy as Houghton’s White Classic in order to comply with obligations under the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Act.
Houghton has been producing its White Burgundy for nearly 70 years.
It’s not a ruling beyond challenge, however.
When WA company Fine Wine Wholesalers was questioned by the trade mark examiner over its ‘Feet First’ label, it decided to fight its case.
And it won, with the Trade Marks Office saying that ‘a commonsense approach’ should be adopted in situations where registered regions also have ordinary English meanings.
Fine Wine director Ross Lawrence said that, although First is a region in Germany, the company believed it was unfair that this fact placed the use of the word beyond reach.
“First has a meaning in the English language, and we thought it was going too far to stop the use of it,” Mr Lawrence said.
Minter Ellison’s head of intellectual property, David Stewart, who represented Fine Wine Wholesalers, said the case demonstrated that the interpretation of the regulations was far too broad.
Continue reafing: wabusinessnews.com.au
