NEWS: Yalumba and Pernod Ricard in court fight over use of ‘signature’

[n4sir]

Yalumba and Pernod Ricard in court fight over use of the word ‘signature’ on wine labels
June 6, 2016 9:00pm
Steve Rice
The Advertiser

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sout ... d9dffe62f8

ONE of South Australia’s wine luminaries is involved in a legal battle with a global winemaker over the use of the word “signature” on its labels.

Adelaide based wine merchant Samuel Smith and Son — owned by the Hill-Smith family — has taken its dispute with Pernod Ricard to the Federal Court.

The Hill-Smith family runs one of Australia’s oldest family owned wineries, Yalumba, at Angaston, which carries The Signature range.

Lawyers for Samuel Smith and Son claim Pernod Ricard have engaged in “deceptive similarity” by using the trademark “Signature” name on its Jacobs Creek Reserve Barossa Signature range.

But Pernod Ricard has denied the accusation, saying the label reflects the geographical location and characteristics of the wine.

Yalumba’s The Signature range is an award-winning, flagship red wine that every year carries a new and different signature of a family member or senior worker on its label.

Samuel Smith and Son merchants was established in 1923 and is also a distributor of popular beverages including Coopers, Carlsberg, Kronenbourg 1664, Hills Cider and Jim Barry Wines.

Yalumba has been operating in the Barossa Valley for 166 years and its chairman Robert Hill-Smith — whose great-great grandfather established the winery — attended court for the hearing yesterday.

Helen Rofe, for Samuel Smith and Son, said the Jacobs Creek Barossa Signature label was being used as a trademark.

“The Barossa Signature does not do anything different to our essential (The) Signature, which has been taken,” she said.

“We find it hard to ascertain the descriptive meanings ... it is not descriptive of (Barossa) characteristics.”

Bruce Caine, for Pernod Ricard, said his clients did not engage in any deceptive similarity and that the Jacobs Creek Barossa Signature label was used adjectively to describe a style.

“It is not used as a noun to signify a person’s name or mark,” he said. “(Barossa and Signature) are visually paired and it is wrong to disaggregate them.

“There is nothing about (Yalumba’s) The Signature that conveys any regionality at all.”

Mr Caine said Pernod Ricard had acted honestly and without any ulterior motive.

Pernod Ricard is the global winemaker for some of the most popular Australian wine brands. The hearing, before Justice Natalie Charlesworth, continues.

[ticklenow1]

Are Pernoud-Ricard French owned? If they are, this is a massive case of hypocrisy. No Australian wine is able to be called Burgundy, Champagne and god knows how many other trademarks they have. If they aren't French owned, well I take it all back......

Cheers
Ian

[sjw_11]

Are Pernoud-Ricard French owned? If they are, this is a massive case of hypocrisy. No Australian wine is able to be called Burgundy, Champagne and god knows how many other trademarks they have. If they aren't French owned, well I take it all back......

Cheers
Ian

Pernod Ricard SA is indeed Paris listed ... €26bn market capitalization, so just a tad bigger than their opponents here.
They are apparently 42% US owned and 35% French/Belgium owned, per Bloomberg.

So yes I think your outrage is fair

[Mahmoud Ali]

This has nothing to do with the French or geographic designation. It is clearly about the trademark use of the word 'Signature'. Yalumba is claiming that Jacob's Creek's use of 'Barossa Signature' is infringing on their flagship wine named 'The Signature'. I know that anything remotely associated with the French tends to set off Australian outrage, particularly in the wine world, but I see no French wine here trying to pass itself off as an Australian Barossa. The Jacob's Creek wine is a Barossa wine and it has been named 'Barossa Signature'. I think that Jacob's Creek claim that the word signature reflects the Barossa style is a bit weak and they will likely lose the argument.

No hypocrisy here, a French wine is not being passed of as an Australian wine. Also, Champagne, Burgundy, and Bordeaux are not trademarks in the way Yalumba is arguing their trademark, they are regional designations.

I believe Charles Cimicky also abandoned their signature series after being approached by Yalumba.

Cheers................Mahmoud.

[Ian S]

I'm in two minds on this one.
On Yalumba's side, these are two big brands and I can see the drive to protect from a direct competitor.
On the other side, I think some things have been allowed to be trademarked/copyrighted, that are so ubiquitous that they should be beyond anyone having the right of sole use - and 'signature' is one of them.

I recall genuine disgust that a mass market producer in the US managed to force the long-established Chianti producers organisation to drop it's emblem and name, because the American company had trademarked the Italian word for cockerel and set their enthusiastic lawyers onto the producer's organisation.

regards
Ian

[Bobthebuilder]

Neil McGuigan also do signature release & signature series wines
Its hardly a unique concept and use of the word

[grb2001]

Looking forward to the new Barossa Scribbler!

[Mahmoud Ali]

On the other side, I think some things have been allowed to be trademarked/copyrighted, that are so ubiquitous that they should be beyond anyone having the right of sole use - and 'signature' is one of them.

I see your point about ubiquitous words however 'The Signature' is a flagship wine with a long and storied history and I think that they have an argument, particularly if the Jacob's Creek wine is a premium wine. Graveyard is a common word but I would argue that in the context of wine it is clearly proprietary to Brokenwood.

I wonder what would happen if an electronics manufacturer wanted to brand their products pineapple, over maybe even crabapple?

Cheers...............Mahmoud.

[odyssey]

Jacob's Creek 'Barossa-Factor'...
Jacob's Creek 'Coonawarran-Odyssey'...
Jacob's Creek 'Barossa-Winemaker's Command'...

Generic words all, paired to the regional prefix using quotes and hyphens and apostrophes to emphasise the pairing... But still terms very closely associated with other brands, and highlights how farcical their argument is.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Jacob's Creek 'Barossa-Factor'...
Jacob's Creek 'Coonawarran-Odyssey'...
Jacob's Creek 'Barossa-Winemaker's Command'...

Generic words all, paired to the regional prefix using quotes and hyphens and apostrophes to emphasise the pairing... But still terms very closely associated with other brands, and highlights how farcical their argument is.

Wait, they don't make those wines do they? Surely you're just trying to make a point, right?

Mahmoud.

[odyssey]

Jacob's Creek 'Barossa-Factor'...
Jacob's Creek 'Coonawarran-Odyssey'...
Jacob's Creek 'Barossa-Winemaker's Command'...

Generic words all, paired to the regional prefix using quotes and hyphens and apostrophes to emphasise the pairing... But still terms very closely associated with other brands, and highlights how farcical their argument is.

Wait, they don't make those wines do they? Surely you're just trying to make a point, right?

Mahmoud.

Hah yes I was, they aren't real wines. Sorry for the shock. Should have prefixed with "imagine these wine names"...

[Benchmark]

Apparently Pernod have shut down Morris of Rutherglen.

Keeping the brand selling the rest....

[Mike Hawkins]

Heaps of old Signature up for sale on Langtons, from 66 to 84.

https://www.langtons.com.au/product-det ... nd-dry-red

https://www.langtons.com.au/product-det ... -sauvignon

Hope you get a good price...