Treasury takes alleged Penfolds ‘copycat’ to court

Treasury Wine Estates has launched legal action against alleged Penfolds copycat Rush Rich in the Federal Court.

A recently posted ad for Rush Rich Estate wines. (Source: Sohu)

Treasury Wine Estates says it is fed up with shady winemakers and dodgy promoters ripping off its most prized wine brand, the iconic Penfolds, and has taken legal action against alleged “copycat” operator Rush Rich in the Federal Court for trade mark infringement.

Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), whose large international portfolio of wines includes Wolf Blass, Beringer and Lindeman’s, will argue the trade mark infringements are exploiting the Penfolds brand, including the unauthorised use of its Ben Fu trade mark — the Chinese transliteration of Penfolds.

The case has been initiated by Treasury Wine to stop the infringement of its rights by Rush Rich both in Australia and in China that, without such action, could significantly damage the reputation of the winemaker’s brands.

It has been reported that Rush Rich is ultimately owned by a Chinese company and operated by Chinese nationals. The term Rush Rich is believed to be the English translation of Ben Fu.

“Clearly they (Rush Rich) are not working on their own, they are not the only ones, but this is first one we are going after and there is more to come, trust me, we are going to use a sledge hammer to sort this out to stop this,’’ Treasury Wine chief executive Michael Clarke told The Australian.

“And what we want people to know is no matter what part of the value chain you are involved in, a grape grower, or a bottler or a label provider, if you are participating in helping these guys with copycat infringement we are coming after you, I think Wine Australia is going to come after you and I hope other brands are going to come after you too.’’

China has proved a goldmine for Australian winemakers, and is now the nation’s biggest export market by value, however it is also a hive of activity for fake labels and counterfeit brands that can undercut the true owners of luxury premium brands.

“We are going to use a sledgehammer on this copycat wine, because this can become a massive industry and what happens is over time consumers around the world will say ‘well, actually you can’t trust brands from Australia because it could actually be a copy,’’ Mr Clarke said.

“My concern is if we don’t nip this in the bud now it is going to become an issue that you cant trust the stuff that comes from Australia if we don’t protect our brands and our franchise.

The launching of the court case this afternoon follows the landmark legal win in the Beijing High People’s Court in China last year that supported Treasury Wine’s lawful right to use and market the Ben Fu trademark in China.

Mr Clarke said so much good work is being done to build “Brand Australia” by brand owners, as well as by the Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment — work that is being compromised by a few copycat operators whose actions are effectively ‘liquidating’ Brand Australia.

He argued it is therefore critical for producers, industry bodies, authorities and government to take action now to protect the long term reputation and success of Australian wine in export markets where Treasury Wine has forged significant growth for premium imported wine in recent years.

“We have become aware of a number of copycat operators that are taking illegal and unfair advantage of the success of iconic brands such as Penfolds. The infringing products and misleading claims these operators are making, and the association they falsely claim to have with our brands are unconscionable. We are putting on notice any bad faith operators in Australia — and anyone working with these operators — that this exploitation will not be tolerated,” Mr Clarke said.

Of particular concern to Treasury Wine is the issue of copycat wine which is believed to be sourced and bottled through bulk wine suppliers and third party bottlers in South Australia, and then exported under labels that copy the look and feel of Penfolds wines, infringing Treasury Wine’s rights to the Penfolds and Ben Fu trademarks.

“There is no doubt that the Penfolds brand has played an instrumental role in the success Brand Australia is enjoying overseas. With this success comes the predatory behaviour of sophisticated copycat operators, which is bad for consumers, bad for Australian brand owners and bad for the Australian wine industry.

“What’s worse is that some of this copycat product is being made and labelled in Australia — we must work to put a stop to this,” Mr Clarke said.

Mr Clarke said the case against Rush Rich demonstrate one example of Treasury Wine’s strategy to take legal action both in Australia and internationally to protect its brands against infringing products.