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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is celebrating Women’s History Month by highlighting the numerous and remarkable accomplishments of women in all fields. To celebrate the many successes of women in the world of wine, the USPTO is offering a free event on March 24, 2021, that will showcase the stories of women working at […]
The growth of trademark applications in Latin America continue to climb. Recently, we have noticed an increase in Latin America trademark filings for wine brands that are identical or confusingly similar to our client’s U.S. brands. These have NOT been instances of brand hijacking. These are cases where the identical or similar brand has sought […]
The June 2014 issue of Practical Winery & Vineyard features an article by DP&F’s Katja Loeffelholz titled “Branding Agricultural Commodities.” The articles provides growers with a detailed summary of the importance of protecting their vineyard’s brand. You can access the article by clicking on the image below. For more information on how you can secure trademark rights, please […]
Practical Winery & Vineyard recently published an article written by Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty attorney Katja Loeffelholz. Katja’s article “What’s trending, how to capture it” discusses how technological advancements have permitted an evolution in wine labels, bottle shapes, closures and packaging designs. One wine bottle can contain several protectable elements. Word mark, logos/images, taglines/slogans, color, […]
By Katja Loeffelholz, Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty The prominence of vineyard-designated wines is another lesson in value-added agricultural branding which presents both the winery and the vineyard owner or lessee with a number of marketing and legal issues. Recognizing the value of vineyard designated names, vineyards have long been designating blocks within their vineyards with […]
Plaintiff San Antonio Winery, Inc. (“SAW”) filed suit against Constellation Brands last August in the Central District of California, alleging trademark infringement, false designation of origin, and unfair competition due to Constellation’s promotion and sale of fizzy, low-alcohol, sweet (“FLAS”) red wine under the mark ROSATELLO. SAW claims trademark rights in the mark STELLA ROSA […]
On February 25, 2014, E. & J. Gallo filed a trademark suit in the Southern District of New York against Dark Horse Distillery, LLC. of Lenexa, Kansas, and T. Edward wines, Ltd., its New York distributor, claiming infringement by false designation of origin, unfair competition and trademark dilution of its registered mark DARK HORSE for […]
In most all cases that come before the United States Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Board) involving relatedness of wine and other beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike, the Board almost always finds the goods to be related for purposes of its likelihood of confusion analysis. A likelihood of confusion analysis involves […]
Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty attorneys Carol Kingery Ritter and Katja Loeffelholz were recently guest lecturers at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s new Wine and Viticulture program. The class was led by Professor William H. Amspacher who is promoting the interdisciplinary major of Wine and Viticulture. All students in the interdisciplinary major are educated about all […]
Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty attorney Katja Loeffelholz, a registered attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, recently presented at The Seminar Group’s “Exporting Wine to China” program on “Protecting Intellectual Property.” China represents the single largest growth opportunity for wine producing countries around the world. China is a brand driven market. So what are […]
Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty attorney Katja Loeffelholz, a registered attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, recently presented “Creating, Protecting & Building Equity in your Wine Brand” at the Wine Industry Forum. You can download a copy of Ms. Loeffelholz’s presentation here: The presentation provides an introduction and overview of trademark […]
E & J Gallo Winery (Gallo) has sued Grenade Beverage LLC (Grenade) for trademark infringement seeking an injunction as well as monetary damages. Gallo owns federal trademark registrations for GALLO covering wines. Gallo also utilizes a rooster on its wine label. In addition to wine, Gallo sells other alcoholic beverages such as brandy, tequila, vodka, […]
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 […]
On June 26, 2013, the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (“TTAB”) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) sustained the opposition filed by Joel Gott Wines (“JGW”) against the trademark application for GOTT LIGHT and Design for water based on JGW’s prior registrations for GOTT and JOEL GOTT for wine. A copy of the […]
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 […]
One of the many benefits of obtaining federal trademark or service mark protection is that the Trademark Office will prevent registration of marks which are confusingly similar.Yountville Partners, Inc., simply by registering its marks BRIX and BRIXX for restaurant and bar services, was successful in preventing the registration of the marks BRIX WINE CELLARS, BRIX […]
Scott Gerien, head of Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty’s Intellectual Property Department, will be appearing on a panel with Judith Schvimmer, Vice President and Legal Counsel at Jackson Family Enterprises, on “Trademark Protection” on March 6 at 12:00 PST. The presentation will be a TeleBriefing sponsored by Law Seminars International In this 90-minute TeleBriefing, the panel of […]
In the United States, trademark rights may be established through the lawful use of a mark in association with goods in commerce. When one is selling a product that is not subject to government regulation, such as t-shirts, it is fairly simple to make lawful use of a mark in commerce; you label the t-shirt […]
On July 24, 2012, Wine Institute held its California Wine Export Seminar at The City Club in San Francisco. The highlight of the Seminar was a special panel presentation on the Chinese wine market featuring Maria Troen from Wine Intelligence, ZJ Tang from Chicago Chinese Cultural Institute, Pete Hou, Wine Institute’s trade representative in China, […]
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) recently refused registration of the mark MOCAMBO for rum based on a prior registration for the mark MOCAMBO for cigars. In refusing the registration, the TTAB found that rum and cigars are complementary products in that cigars are enjoyed with a glass […]