Opener
This week, Governor Gavin Newsom signed three bills that expand certain winery off-site tasting room privileges and grant alcohol beverage manufacturers the right to advertise and promote charitable donations in connection with the sale of alcohol. The laws will become effective on January 1, 2022. We have summarized the new bills and how they amend […]
During last week’s Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, DP&F attorney John Trinidad moderated a panel discussion titled, “Regulatory Hurdles for DTC, Social Media, and Third Party Sales Channels.” Trinidad led off the session with a presentation describing how the Internet has “disrupted” the wine industry’s traditional sales and marketing models. You can access Trinidad’s PowerPoint presentation by clicking on […]
Governor Brown signed Senate Bill (SB) 778 into law creating two new Business and Professions (B&P) Code Sections (25600.1 and 25600.2) authorizing consumer contests and sweepstakes conducted by authorized California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) licensees. These statutes become effective January 1, 2013. SB 778 contains significant restrictions, examples of which are described below. […]
Vintners and growers from the far western coastal areas of the Sonoma Coast AVA have recently launched a marketing program to promote the “WestSonomaCoast” area. The group has determined, at least for now, that the politics and bureaucracy surrounding the AVA formation process do not best serve the group’s goal of distinguishing the far west […]
Brand trends in an industry, or at least branding plans for a particular player in an industry, can often be seen before they actually debut in the market by watching trademark filings. Under U.S. Trademark Law, a brand name, or trademark, can be protected before the brand name is ever used in the marketplace. This […]
Each month the editors of Lex Vini will select the most interesting wine trademark applications filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the prior month. In keeping with the broad meaning of “interesting,” the marks may be selected because they have significant business interest, they demonstrate potential new themes in branding, or simply […]