Breaking: DBR Lafite awarded RMB 80 million in landmark trademark win in China

DBR Lafite Group has been awarded nearly RMB 80 million in a landmark lawsuit case against counterfeiters, a record-breaking amount granted to a foreign wine company. This victory marks the culmination of a more than 20-year-long legal battle.

The decision, handed down by China’s Supreme People’s Court, upheld a previous ruling by Jiangsu High Court. It ordered the four defendants that sold wines under “Lafei Manor” and “拉菲庄园” to pay a grand total of RMB 79.19 million (US$11 million) for trademark infringement.

These actions by the four companies – Nanjing Gold Hope Limited (南京金色希望酒业有限公司), Nanjing Lafei Manor Limited (南京拉菲庄园酒业有限公司), Nanjing Huaxia Wine Company Limited (南京华夏葡萄酿酒有限公司) and Shenzhen Junteng Wine Company Limited (深圳市骏腾酒业有限公司) – led to “confusion and false advertising” and caused “damages to Chateau Lafite Rothschild’s interest,” according to the court ruling, which was delivered on September 21, 2023 but only made public this week.

The landmark win marks the highest amount awarded to a foreign winery and one of the highest awarded to a foreign company in recent years.

Speaking to Vino Joy News, Saskia de Rothschild, CEO of CEO of DBR Lafite, owner of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, applauded the win and commended the company’s lengthy legal efforts to protect its legal rights in China that stretched over two decades. “This is good news as we have been working for over twenty years to protect the intellectual property of our estates on the Chinese market. It takes perseverance and we need to keep reacting effectively as it is the addition of cases that will protect our consumers in the long run,” she says.

The victory reflects the Chinese government’s determination to confront the rampant problem of counterfeiter and piracy that has plagued many international brand owners from bags, shoes to wine.

In 2019, China intensified its efforts in Intellectual Property rights protection, with amendments to IP laws taking aim at “bad faith” filings. This has led to some high-profile wins for international brands including Penfolds, the popular Australian wine brand owned by Treasury Wine Estates.

Previously, China follows a “first to file” rule, which allows counterfeiters to squat on brands and trademarks before legitimate brand owners can act.

In DBR Lafite’s case, the group first registered trademarks for “Lafite” and “Chateau Lafite Rothschild” in English in China back in 1996. As its popularity grew to become one of the most recongized wine brands in the country, the counterfeiters saw an opportunity in yet unclaimed Chinese translated names of the famed Bordeaux first growth.

In 2005, Nanjing Gold Hope filed trademark registration for “拉菲庄园”, and was granted the trademark two years later and by 2011 its wines sold under “拉菲庄园” in Chinese and “Lafei Manor” in English have popped up on wine shelves across the country. According to filings from Nanjing Gold Hope, the wine was sold by 757 distributors across China in over 2000 supermarkets.

Its advertisement even appeared on China’s national broadcaster CCTV. In 2017 at China’s biggest wine and spirits fair in Chengdu, the firm plastered banners across Kempinski hotel, claiming its wine is the only legitimate Lafite in China.

With the ruling, the court has ordered Nanjing Lafei Manor to compensate Château Lafite Rothschild RMB 51 million within 30 days of the judgment’s effective date for economic losses and reasonable expenses incurred to stop the infringement. Nanjing Huaxia Wine must pay RMB 25.2 million. Nanjing Gold Hope is jointly and severally liable for the compensation responsibilities of the aforementioned two companies. Shenzhen Junteng Wine must pay RMB 2.69 million, while Hangzhou Peilun Trading Co. is ordered to compensate Chateau Lafite Rothschild RMB 280,000.