The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has announced that Changyu Pioneer Wine Company is the owner of the trademark "Jiebaina".
This brings an end to the six-year dispute about the intellectual property rights of "Jiebaina".
In 2002, the State Trademark Bureau issued the trademark license "Jiebaina" to Changyu. However, other wine companies, including Great Wall, Wellong Grape Wine, and Dynasty Winery, handed in a joint application, asking the administration to withdraw the trademark license. Their reason was that "Jiebaina" was a variety of grapes and a common name for grape products. Therefore, Changyu should not have the exclusive rights for it.
Changyu retorted that "Jiebaina" was an original brand of the company and its statement was supported by departments such as the Sub-council of Grape and Wine of the Chinese Society for Horticultural Science and the Chinese Society for Viticulture. According to these departments, in the formal names of existing varieties of grapes, "Jiebaina" was not included.
The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce recently released a written verdict saying that Changyu is the owner of "Jiebaina".
At present, there are more than twenty wine products that use the name of "Jiebaina" on their labels. As Changyu gains the trademark rights of "Jiebaina", the name should not appear on the labels of other wine companies.