Penfolds wins court action against Chinese copycat brand

Treasury Wine Estates has secured a major intellectual property court victory in China against copycat wine operator Rush Rich.

 
TWE won more than US $10 million in damages after a long fight against the wine brand accused of trying to pass its wines off as Penfolds releases.

A Chinese court of appeal ordered the defendants behind the Rush Rich brand - branded in Chinese as “奔富酒园” - damages, a statement from the Australian wine company said.

The first two Chinese characters in the name are identical to Penfolds’ Chinese brand name “奔富,” (or Ben Fu) and the English name Rush Rich is widely seen as a literal translation of those characters, Chinese wine website Vino Joy said.

The copycat bottles also featured white labels with bold red lettering and numeric product names - hallmarks of Penfolds’ signature look.

The long-running dispute traces back to 2012, when the company behind Rush Rich applied to register the “奔富酒园” trademark and began selling wines under the name.

By 2016, the brand had established a major presence on the Chinese wine scene.

In its statement, Treasury Wine Estates said the use of the similar name and branding was likely to mislead consumers and undermine the Penfolds brand.

"TWE takes intellectual property protection extremely seriously," the company statement said.

"Protecting our brands safeguards consumers, preserves the integrity of our portfolio and defends the Penfolds heritage and reputation built over generations.

"Our approach is deliberate and sustained, combining legal enforcement, regulatory engagement, technology enabled authentication and consumer education."