“Cabernet” Trademark Dispute Upgrades

The dispute on the trademark right of “Cabernet” has not settled.

It is said that Great Wall Winery, Dynasty Winery and Weilong Grape Wine Co. are united to accuse Yantai ChangYu Group Co. Ltd. for the trademark right of “Cabernet” .

On May 26th, 2008, State Administration for Industry and Commerce announced that the trademark right of “Cabernet” is exclusively owned by ChangYu. However, China Great Wall Winery claimed that “Cabernet” is the generic name of grape varieties which is recognized by international wine industry. “Cabernet” does not have the attributes of trademark. The evidences provided by ChangYu are not enough to support the trademark right.

The spokesman of COFCO said that any enterprises can register "Resling", "Chardonnay" , "Sauvignon Blanc" as trademark if the trademark right of “Cabernet” is exclusively owned by Changyu.

It is reported that Changyu Winery Group has established the trademark “Cabernet”in 1931, and applied for the registertation of the name to the government in 1936. In 1937, the trademark of “Cabernet” is ratified with the registertation numer 33477. After New China is founded, Changyu Winery Group had applied for the trademark right of “Cabernet”in 1959,1985 and 1992 respectively. The application was just put on the record for history reasons.

In 2001, Changyu Group lodged an application again, which was opposed strongly by many wine enterprises, because “Cabernet”is the name of grape variety.