Pairs Well With Fame, Fraud, and a Hint of Lawsuit

A bottle of wine carries more than fermented grapes. It embodies intellectual property worth billions in global markets. From the tapas bars of Barcelona to the vineyards of Australia, wine names spark international incidents with real-world consequences.

When a small Spanish bar named "Champanillo" (little champagne) faced the wrath of the powerful Comité Champagne, it revealed how geographical indications function like luxury brand protections. No actual champagne was sold, yet the European Court of Justice ruled the mere evocation of champagne's prestige violated EU law. Similarly, Belgian customs officials destroyed thousands of Miller High Life beer cans for daring to call themselves "The Champagne of Beers" despite using the slogan for over 120 years.

These battles extend beyond Europe's borders. Croatian winemakers watched helplessly as their traditional Prošek dessert wine, despite being nothing like sparkling Prosecco, was blocked from registration after Italian opposition. Meanwhile, Australia and the EU reached a trade negotiation impasse over whether "Prosecco" refers to a grape variety (as Australians argue) or a protected place name (as Europeans insist). The dispute demonstrates how a single wine term can become geopolitical leverage worth potentially billions in trade.

Luxury producers fight equally fierce battles, with Château Petrus winning a €1.2 million judgment against a cheaper wine called "Petrus Lambertini," while even Prince's estate successfully challenged an Ohio winery's "Purple Rain" wine. Counterfeiters face serious consequences too, fake Lafite bottles distributed through nearly 2,000 supermarkets resulted in an $11 million judgment, while Europol's "Operation Epigraphy" dismantled a multinational fake Rioja network spanning three countries.

Whether through trademarks, geographical indications, certification marks, or patents (as seen in the competitive synthetic cork industry), wine intellectual property serves as the legal foundation for an industry that blends agriculture, culture, commerce and law. What's inside the bottle is only half the story, the rest lies in who has the right to tell it.

Listen now to understand why every sip comes with a side of intellectual property law, and why the words on a wine label can be worth millions in courtrooms worldwide.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A bottle of wine is never just a bottle of wine.
It's a story aged, named anddressed for admiration.
But stories like these comewith stakes, a name whispered
too closely, a label that winkstoo hard, a grape that crosses
borders without permission,because here terroir is
intellectual property, fame iscurrency, and that pretty label

(00:22):
might just be grounds for alawsuit.
And that pretty label mightjust be grounds for a lawsuit.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
You are listening to Intangiblia, the podcast of
intangible law playing.
Talk about intellectualproperty, Please welcome your
host, Leticia Caminero.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Welcome back to Intangiblia, the podcast where
ideas ferment, trademarks,travel and creativity is always
on the label.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
I'm Leticia Caminero, your host and I'm Artemisa,
your AI co-host, optimized forflavor and fully decanted with
facts Before we pour into thisepisode.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Here's a quick disclaimer this episode was
created with the support of AItools yes, including the
spirited voices you're hearingUnfiltered, unsulfured and
unapologetically algorithmic.
Our first stop is Barcelona,where a tiny tapas bar chain

(01:25):
named Champanillo which meanslittle champagne became the cork
that popped a legal explosion.
Despite only serving sparklingcava and beer, the bar's name
and logo caught the attention ofthe Comité Champagne.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Due to the lawsuit in 2021, the European Court of
Justice ruled that, even if nochampagne was being sold, the
bar's name evoked the prestigeof champagne, and that's enough
to breach EU geographicalindication GI protections.

Speaker 3 (01:52):
The court found that the association and consumers'
minds was enough, so Champagnolhad to go proving that
champagne's GI isn't just forbottles, it's protected like a
luxury brand.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Gi isn't just for bottles.
It's protected like a luxurybrand.
And hold my beer literally.
In 2023, 2,352 cans of MillerHigh Life, self-branded the
champagne of beers were seizedand destroyed by Belgian customs
.
Why?
Same reason the ComitéChampagne flexed its GI rights.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
Same reason the Comité Champagne flexed its GI
rights and the message Eveniconic, 120-year-old slogans
can't float past Europeanborders if they infringe on
protected regional terms.
Next, a tale of bubbles,bureaucracy and branding
boundaries.
In 2021, croatia tried toregister Prozac, a sweet
Dalmatian dessert wine steepedin centuries of tradition.

(02:47):
But Italy Not sweet about it.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
They were fuming.
Italy argued Prozac sounded fartoo close to Prosecco.
Their prize, sparklinggeographical indication, didn't
matter that Prozac is a stillwine with a totally different
flavor.
The names Too bubbly forcomfort.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
The European Commission agreed.
In a controversial decision,they blocked Croatia's
application.
Why?
Because even the possibility ofconfusion was enough to put
centuries of heritage on hold.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
And it wasn't just about tradition, it was about
money.
Prosecco rakes in over$1,200,000,000 USD in exports
each year.
That's not just wine, that'sleverage.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
And while Italy defended its feats in Brussels,
another Prosecco fight wasbubbling down under.
Australian winemakers had beengrowing Prosecco grapes since
the late 1990s, long before theEU declared it a protective name
in 2009.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
To Aussies Prosecco was a grape To the EU.
It became sacred ground and in2023, it hit a boiling point.
The EU All-In Free TradeAgreement stalled Over one word
Prosecco.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
The EU demanded Australia drop the name.
Australia said no, calling it acommercial ambush wrapped in a
cork and ribbon.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
And the impact went global.
In Singapore, Italy's ProseccoConsortium won a legal victory
banning Aussie Prosecco from themarket on the grounds that
Prosecco is a place, not a plant.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
At the heart of it all, a deceptively simple but
powerful IP question.
Is a wine name about what it'smade from or where it's?

Speaker 1 (04:39):
made is a wine name, about what it's made from or
where it's made.
The EU says place, Australiasays plant, and consumers
Divided.
Some want origin stories,others just want a chilled glass
with no drama.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Still there may be hope for the trade deal, yet
After all, even the moststubborn vintages can mellow
with time and compromise mightstill be on the table.
Next, let's visit Bordeaux'smost famous address, chateau
Petrus.
In 2023, they took a Frenchnegociant to court over a
cheaper wine called PetrusLambertini.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
Not subtle.
Even the label design nodded atthe real Petrus one, one of the
world's priciest wines, withbottles selling for 3,000 to
6,000 USD.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
The court found this branding to be parasitic, an
attempt to trade on Petrusprestige without permission.
They ordered a name change andfined the producer 1,200,000
euro zero cents zero centsaround $1,300,000 zero cents USD
.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Luxury wine meets legal precision.
That's a sommelier's cease anddesist, and now Ohio.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
A local winery launched a wine called Purple
Rain, a sweet concord red.
But Princess Estate took onelook and said not so fast.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
They moved to cancel the trademark, arguing it
infringed on the pop icon'slegacy.
The winery's defense Princedidn't drink.
Creative, but not convincing.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
They settled privately.
But the case reminds us, atrademark isn't just about
industry.
If your brand echoes a culturalicon, expect to get called on
it.
Now to China, where ChateauLafitte Rothschild won a massive
case in 2023.
A counterfeit ring haddistributed thousands of fake

(06:29):
Lafitte bottles through 1,963supermarkets.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
The labels, corks and certificates were all forged.
The cork awarded Lafitte about$11 million USD.
That's one of the biggest IPawards in wine history.

Speaker 3 (06:47):
Meanwhile, in 2025, a tourist in Vietnam noticed a
suspicious bottle of Rioja andsparked Operation.
Epigraphy led by Europol.

Speaker 1 (07:01):
What followed was a multinational raid across Spain,
China and Vietnam.
Authorities seized 17 fakeRioja brands and dismantled a
sophisticated counterfeitingoperation.

Speaker 3 (07:12):
These cases show that wine fraud is serious, and
geographical indications aren'tjust passive, they're enforced
by real laws, real courts andsometimes international sting
operations.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
You are listening to Intangiblia, the podcast of
intangible law playing talkabout intellectual property.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
In 2020, oregon took aim at Copper Cane Wines, run by
Joe Wagner.
His wine brand, eluan, usedOregon grapes, but the wine was
bottled in Napa, californiaMusic.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
And yet the label read purely Oregon.
Always coastal sounds romantic,but it violated Oregon wine
laws which require wines namedafter Oregon AVA's to be bottled
in state.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
Copper Cane eventually agreed to relabel,
but consumers launched a classaction lawsuit arguing the
branding was deceptive and hurtOregon's wine image.
Was deceptive and hurt Oregon'swine image.
So here's the big idea when alabel claims a place that place

(08:26):
better match every step ofproduction, not just the
vineyard.
Let's close with a case thatdidn't involve labels, but corks
.
Synthetic corks, to be exact,think plastic looking stoppers
engineered for oxygen control.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
Two companies dominated this field Nomad Corks
and Amcork.
Nomad Cork pioneeredmulti-layer corks with
adjustable oxygen transmissionrates.
Amcork built on sustainablematerials and extrusion
technology.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
They filed dozens of patents oxygen permeability,
biobased foams from sugarcaneand extr extrusion molds, all
patented and fiercely defended.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
But instead of public brawls it was mostly strategic
fencing, licensing deals, epooppositions and tech exclusivity
.

Speaker 3 (09:09):
These silent battles reshaped the market.
Today, synthetic corks arewidely accepted, especially for
affordable and mid-range wines.
And they've improvedsustainability too, in this case
, patents aged well, so afterall this talk of names, fakes,
bids and billion dollar brandingbattles, you might be wondering

(09:30):
what exactly are we protectinghere?
Let's swirl the glass one moretime and take a good look at the
legal terms floating around.

Speaker 1 (09:41):
Because not all labels are created equal.
Some are personal, some arecollective, some are so
territorial, they spark tradewars.

Speaker 3 (09:51):
Let's start with the classic the trademark.
That's your brand name, yourlogo, your visual signature in
the wine aisle.
It could be something edgy likePurple Rain, nostalgic like
Petrus Lambertini.
A trademark is how a wineintroduces itself and carves out
its identity.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
And it's also the legal sword you pull when
someone gets too inspired byyour branding.
But remember trademarks protectidentity, not necessarily
origin.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
That's where geographical indications, or
GEIs, step in.
These protect names that arelinked to specific places and
whose quality, reputation orcharacteristics are tied to that
origin.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
Think Champagne, think Rioja.
These aren't just regions,they're reputations.
When you drink a wine with a GI, you're drinking its story the
soil, the technique, the culture.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
Now, depending on the country, gis are enforced using
different legal tools.
In the US, they don't have astandalone GI law like the EU,
so how is champagne protectedthere?

Speaker 1 (11:01):
It's filed as a certification mark, a type of
trademark that says, yes, thisproduct meets certain standards,
like coming from a particularregion or being made in a
traditional way.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
The Comité Champagne owns that US certification mark.
But there's a wrinkle SomeAmerican wineries that used
champagne before 2006 weregrandfathered in under older
trade rules.
So, yes, you might see aCalifornia champagne at the
grocery store legally.
It's a quirk of internationalnegotiation, not terroir.

Speaker 1 (11:37):
And then we have the collective mark, which works
like a team badge.
It's owned by a group and itsmembers can use it if they
follow the rules.

Speaker 3 (11:46):
A perfect example the Rioja, the Consejo Regulador,
owns the collective mark andcertified Rioja producers use it
together like a wine guild withhigh standards.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
And, above all, that there's the ultra premium
category, the appellation oforigin.
It's like a GI, but withstricter rules.
Everything from growing thegrapes to bottling must happen
in the defined region.

Speaker 3 (12:10):
Chianti Classico is a great example.
And, yes, champagne qualifiesunder these two within the EU
system.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
So whether it's a trademark protecting a clever
name or a collective defending acenturies old region, Wine law
isn't just about what you drink.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
It's about who, where and how, and making sure no one
else pretends to be that.

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Because in wine words mean legacy and legacy is
intellectual property.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Just like a grape bottle, these legal protections
age well and travel far.
They speak for the land, thepeople, the craft and sometimes,
yes, the courtroom.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
So what did we learn in today's glass of global
intellectual property?

Speaker 3 (12:56):
Here are five lessons straight up.
One place matters.
Whether it's Champaign, riojaor Oregon, names on wine labels
are more than just geography.
They're legally protectedidentities.
Two sound allies steer lawsuits, from Petrus Lambertini to
Purple Rain.
Clever naming can get costlyfast.
Three fraud is global andserious.

(13:17):
Lafitte and Rioja cases showwine forgery isn't just illegal,
it's organized and high stakes.
Four packaging innovation isIP2.
Synthetic cork patents provethat closures aren't an
afterthought, they're engineeredtools.
Five wine law blends cultureand commerce.
Every legal decision ripplesthrough global trade, branding

(13:41):
and consumer trust.
And that's a wrap on thisepisode.
If you enjoyed this deep pourinto wine and intellectual
property, share the episode,leave a review and tell us what
label or case you'd like us touncork next.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
Because, whether it's a lawsuit or a Rioja, what's
inside the bottles?
Only half the story.
I'm Leticia Caminero and I'mArtemisa, digitally fermented,
rightfully aged.

Speaker 3 (14:07):
Until next time, protect your poor.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Thank you for listening to Intangiblia, the
podcast of intangible law plaintalk about intellectual property
.
Did you like what we talkedtoday?
Please share with your network.
Do you want to learn more aboutintellectual property?
Subscribe now on your favoritepodcast player.
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(14:30):
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