Due to Treasury Wine Estates failure to register the Chinese name for Penfolds, the wine brand has found itself in the midst of a lengthy legal battle with notorious trademark squatter, Li Daozhi.
The Australian Financial Review reports that a rival wine brand registered three variations of the Chinese name for Penfolds, Ben Fu, meaning that TWE could be up for hefty trademark infringement fines in addition to the rival company cashing in on the Chinese name for Penfolds by using it to sell wine.
Li Daozhi who also goes under the name of Daniel Li, has the rights to use the Ben Fu name until July 2019
“Treasury has little choice but to buy back the name at a hefty price or relaunch the brand in China,” wine consultant Andy Tan from Mad Wines for AFR. “Actually the Chinese company has done nothing wrong. In China the first person to register the name has the right to use it.”
TWE says that it had won an initial court case over the trademark issue, however the defendant has since launched an appeal.
“Treasury Wine Estates is confident it is the lawful owner of the trademark for Ben Fu in China and our legal challenge to those claiming this trademark was initially successful,” a TWE spokesperson told Fairfax.
“However, the individual concerned has subsequently appealed this decision. This appeal is still pending and it will take time for the Chinese legal system to process the matter.”