LEX VINI

New Law Expands California’s Cannabis Geographical Indications And Mandates Terroir-Based Appellations of Origin

On September 29, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 67 into law, expanding the range of geographical indications for cannabis to include city of origin and limiting the use of appellations of origin to cannabis grown outdoors and in the ground. DP&F’s client, Origins Council, representing the legacy cannabis producing regions of California, worked […]

Monterey County Wines Subject to New Conjunctive Labeling Requirements

Are you planning on bottling and labeling any wines with the name of a Monterey County AVA in the new year?  Then you’ll need to comply with a new conjunctive labeling requirement.  See Cal. Business and Professions Code Sec. 25247. In 2015, the state legislature passed a law requiring wine labeled with the name of an […]

What makes a wine from Texas a Texas wine?

Texans may soon find that the Texas wines on their local retailer shelves are, well, a bit more Texan. A Texas legislator has introduced a bill (HB 1514) which, if passed, would require that any wine indicating that it comes from the state or a geographical subdivision thereof must be made entirely from fruit grown […]

Consumer Deception and Geographic Brand Names – KONA BREWING CO.

In the past few years the alcohol beverage industry has seen numerous consumer protection lawsuits centered around allegedly deceptive advertising statements on alcohol beverage brands, such as “Handcrafted” for Tito’s vodka.  We previously blogged about this in the context of safe harbor defenses to such claims based on COLA approval. We may be seeing a […]

Protecting Wine Origins is Pro-Consumer and Pro-Industry

TTB’s attempt to put an end to an inherently misleading labeling practice and protect the AVA wine origin labeling rules has garnered significant reaction from certain commentators and some in the industry.  In order to shed some light on the proposed amendments to federal labeling rules and why Napa Valley Vintners, the Wine Institute, over […]

Clock is Ticking for Trademark Owners for .wine Generic Top-Level Domain

As we’ve previously reported, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been selling hundreds of generic top-level domains (gTLDs)  to domain name registries for $185,000 each.  These registries then authorize domain name registrars to sell domain names to the public under the gTLDs that the registries have purchased.  The registry called Donuts […]

CEB Wine Law Forum (Nov. 5-6 in Paso Robles)

Thursday and Friday, November 5th & 6th Paso Robles, California Three DP&F attorneys will be speaking at the annual CEB Wine Law Forum,™  taking place on November 5th and 6th in Paso Robles, California.  The Forum, sponsored by the International Wine Law Association and moderated by DPF’s Richard Mendelson,  will address Water Regulation, the AVA System, and Employment Law.  Mr. […]

Proposed Expansion of Oregon’s Willamette Valley AVA

Willamette Valley, one of the most well regarded American Viticultural Areas, may be getting a wee bit bigger. Last week, the Department of Treasury’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) published a notice of proposed rulemaking detailing the proposed addition of approximately 29 square miles (which constitutes less than 1% of the existing […]

New Paso AVAs Available for Use in November

In early 2006, the Paso Robles AVA Committee (PRAVAC) began an organized outreach effort to growers and vintners across the Paso Robles wine country and kicked off the formal process of gathering historical and scientific evidence that would support the further definition of the distinctive wine regions within the Paso Robles AVA.  For many PRAVAC […]

Cava Considers Adoption of Single Estate Classification

In an effort to raise the Cava brand image, the Cava Regulatory Board (Consejo Regulador del Cava) has announced plans for the establishment of a “Single Estate” classification — Cava del Paraje Calificado – for use on wines sourced from single, estate owned vineyards and allow DO Cava wines to compete in a premium price […]

Why Would Wine Industry Support .wine TLD?

On Saturday, June 21, 2014, the 50th session of ICANN meetings opened up in London.  ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is the non-profit organization that coordinates the Internet’s global domain system.  One of the issues addressed at the London meetings was the ongoing issue of the new Top Level Domains (TLDs) for […]

TTB Proposes New Oregon AVA, Cites Wine Blogs as Support

Winegrowers vying to become the 18th American Viticultural Area in Oregon have reached an important milestone. On February 26, 2014, a new notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register, soliciting comments regarding the proposed “The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater” AVA. The comment period is open until April 28, 2014, and comments can […]

Sonoma Conjunctive Labeling Law Applies to Wines Bottled on or after Jan. 1, 2014

Producers using the name of an AVA entirely within Sonoma County on your wine labels take note: California law requires you to include a “Sonoma County” designation for all wine bottled on or after January 1, 2014. In 2010, the California legislature approved a new “conjunctive labeling” law that requires wines labeled with the name […]

USPTO Finds Trademark CHAMPARTY Not Confusingly Similar to CHAMPAGNE Appellation

Comite Interprofessionel du Vin de Chamagne (CIVC) and Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualite (INAO) who under French law are charged with controlling, promoting and protecting the common law certification mark CHAMPAGNE, opposed the registration of the mark CHAMPARTY for “alcoholic beverages except beers.”  CIVC/INAO argued that the marks CHAMPAGNE and CHAMPARTY are […]

Chateauneuf-du-Pape Syndicat Denied by USPTO in Attempt to Protect Appellation

Like a bottle of Chateauneuf-du-Pape I’m fine like wine when I start to rap We need body rockin’, not perfection Let me get some action from the back section   ~ “Body Movin’” by The Beastie Boys   The Beastie Boys cannot be pleased and there undoubtedly will be no body rockin’ at the Syndicat Des […]

WIPO Symposium on Geographical Indications Wraps Up in Bangkok

The biennial World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications wrapped up today in Bangkok, Thailand. The 2013 Symposium was hosted by the Thailand Department of Intellectual Property. The two-day Symposium featured eight educational sessions with over thirty speakers from across the world discussing issues related to the protection and enforcement of geographical […]

Insight into TTB’s Approach to AVAs: The Inwood Valley AVA

Since the establishment of the Augusta AVA in 1980, ATF, and now TTB, has varied its approach to executing its legislatively delegated task of establishing American Viticultural Areas (AVAs).  In early 2011, TTB amended the AVA rules entirely.  With the recognition of the Inwood Valley AVA, effective as of October 15, 2012, we gain insight […]

European Court of Justice Recognizes Superiority of Cognac Geographical Indication

On July 14, 2011, Bastille Day, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) recognized the superiority of the geographical indication (GI) “COGNAC” for spirits in Finland over a trademark application encompassing the term “KONJAKKI” for a generic reference to brandy not meeting the standard for the use of “COGNAC” as set forth by the Bureau National […]

Proposed Naches Heights AVA an Exception to Recent TTB Stated AVA Policy

On May 24, 2011, TTB published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to establish the Naches Heights American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Yakima County, Washington.  The Naches Heights AVA would be located within the Columbia Valley AVA.  TTB is asking for comments on the NPRM on or before July 25, 2011.  The proposed AVA is […]

TTB Proposed Rulemaking Published for Coombsville AVA in Napa Valley

On May 24, 2011, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) published the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to establish the Coombsville viticultural area within Napa County and the North Coast and Napa Valley AVAs.  TTB is accepting comments on the NPRM until July 25, 2011.  Comments may be submitted online, by […]

« Older Entries