TWE's big win in China

TWE has had a win in the Supreme People's Court of China against Adelaide based Penfolds copycat operator, Rush Rich.

TWE received the favourable judgement that Rush Rich’s registration of the Chinese character mark for Penfolds Winery – 奔富酒园– is invalid. The decision was made on the grounds of bad faith and Rush Rich’s illicit conduct in registering a large amount of trademarks for a range of renowned global luxury brands, including Penfolds and Bentley.

The good news stands in stark contrast to the diminishing international relations between Australia and China and the decision comes after a six year long battle that has played out in the Australian and Chinese courts.

Penfolds Managing Director Tom King said “We welcome the judgement by the Supreme People’s Court of China and thank the Chinese authorities for their continued support in protecting the rights of luxury brand owners.

"Penfolds has a long and proud heritage in China that’s been protected and nurtured since the first bottle of wine was exported from South Australia to Shanghai in 1893. Our long-term commitment to China, together with international legal protections to prevent infringement of our trademarks, gives our consumers the confidence to continue enjoying award- winning quality wine from the Penfolds collection.”

The case is the latest outcome of TWE’s global brand protection and copycat strategy and comes after 6 years of litigation and enforcement against the Rush Rich group of entities, primarily in China and Australia, in response to their attempt to exploit the Penfolds brand.

TWE has won all cases during the litigation process and while Rush Rich are not required to pay damages here as it is a civil case, the offending business did go into liquidation following the last round fought out in the in the Australian courts.

Anna Olsen, Global Director of Intellectual Property for Treasury Wine Estates, says, “Protecting the integrity of our historic brands against trademark piracy and misappropriation has always been a global priority. We’ll spare no effort to protect our brands and will pursue our rights to the highest courts where necessary. This case shows we won’t tolerate attempts to exploit and infringe the intellectual property rights and reputation of brands in the Treasury Wine Estates portfolio.”

The decision was also welcomed by Wine Australia, which has adopted a number of measures to protect the integrity and international reputation of Australian wine and help brand owners identify infringement of their private intellectual property rights. Its online Export Label Image Search System was launched in 2021 to help Australian wine producers identify and protect their brands against fraudulent and infringing manufacture and export activity.

Rachel Triggs, General Manager ESG and Market Access at Wine Australia, said “The protection of Australian wine brands overseas is essential to maintaining Australia’s exceptional reputation for quality and authenticity in the global marketplace, and failure to do so could have a long-lasting deleterious effect on the future of Australian wine exports.”