Cognac producer wins Chinese trademark case
A Chinese company has been found guilty of trademark infringement over the illegal use of a trademark belonging to Cognac producer Societe Jas Hennessy (Hennessy).
Beijing Yan Wei Hong Trading Cooperation has been ordered to pay RMB 150,000 (USD $25,000) and cease trademark infringement following a ruling at the Beijing No 3 Intermediate People’s Court.
The company has also been forced to issue a public apology to Hennessy in the China Legal Daily, a spin-off of China’s national English-Language newspaper China Daily.
Hennessy, which is sold across the world and is renowned for its production of the French brandy, first registered a trademark for “Hennessy” in China in 1980 and set-up business in Beijing in 1995.
It had registered trademarks for both English and Chinese.
However, since November last year, Hennessy discovered that Beijing Yan Wei Hong had been using the Hennessy trademark on its own products.
According to Stacy Yuan, of counsel at DLA Piper LLP in Beijing, the Chaoyang District State Administration for Industry and Commerce, a Chinese regulatory agency, investigated the case and ruled that Beijing Yan Wei Hong had infringed Hennessy’s trademark by selling counterfeit products.
The products in question were the Hennessy VSOP and Hennessy XO brands of Cognac.
“Hennessy then filed a trademark infringement claim against the infringer with the Beijing No. 3 Intermediate Court,” Yuan said.
The case is not the first trademark battle related to foreign alcoholic drinks in China.
Earlier this year WIPR reported that French wine maker Castel had been fined $5m dollars for using the trademark “Ka Si Te” for its marketing in China.
The trademark, a transliteration of Castel had already been used by Shanghai Banti Wine Company, which registered it after spotting Castel’s popularity in China.
“It is different to the Castel case, where the Chinese party actually has registered Castel's Chinese equivalent mark before Castel did,” Yuan said.
Castel has since filed an appeal at the Supreme People's Court.
According to Joshua Mandell, senior associate at Rouse LLP in Beijing, Hennessey’s case was “far more straightforward” than other cases that have made the headlines recently but showed an improvement in the Chinese courts for handling IP disputes.
“Brand owners still do face many challenges, but the fact is that Chinese courts are increasingly efficient and fair in handling this kind of dispute,” Mandell said.
“The cases with results that seem to be most strange and unfair usually involve long histories and brand owners with very murky rights positions.”
Hennessy was not immediately available for comment.
