Treasury Wine Estates wins China legal battle over Ben Fu brand

Treasury Wine Estates has confirmed its rights to the Ben Fu brand, the Chinese name of its iconic Penfolds brand.

Treasury Wine Estates chief executive Michael Clarke.

Treasury Wine Estates has emerged victorious in a legal battle in China that confirms its rights to the Ben Fu brand, the Chinese name of its iconic Penfolds brand.

The ruling by the Beijing High People’s Court ends a protracted legal dispute, with the finding suggesting a 2009 registrar of the trademark had failed to demonstrate any genuine use of the trademark in the interim.

The squatter will see the trademark cancelled as a result, opening the door for TWE to claim control of, and freely use, the Ben Fu brand name across China.

“Ben Fu is the most widely recognised wine brand in China — this is due to the fact that we have a long and strong history of actively marketing high quality Penfolds wine using this Chinese transliteration,” Robert Foye, TWE president and managing director — Asia and Europe, said.

“Protecting the integrity of our historic wine brands against trademark piracy is critical. We have never wavered in our commitment to defend our position as the rightful owner of the Ben Fu trademark in China, and we are absolutely thrilled with this decision.”

Penfolds has held a presence in China for 25 years and for over 20 years has been known as Ben Fu by wine buyers in the country.

However, a noted trademark squatter swooped in 2009, looking to reap the benefit of a brand name in Ben Fu that is roughly translated as ‘towards prosperity’.

Translations are crucial in the Chinese market given a large proportion of consumers are unfamiliar with the Roman alphabet.

TWE’s victory serves as a contrast to a horror episode for French wine merchant Castel, which lost a similar case against the same combatant, ensuring it ceded control over a key translation of its brand and paid a multi-million dollar fine.

The Castel saga began in 2002 and played out through Chinese courts until a final ruling against the French group a year ago.