Golden State Vintners, Inc. (GSV), a subsidiary of The Wine Group
LLC (TWG), the world´s third largest producer of wine by volume and
the owner of such well-known brands as Franzia, Almaden, Inglenook,
Concannon, Glen Ellen, and Gray Fox, announces that the Supreme Court
in Sweden has rejected V&S Vin & Sprit AB´s (V&S) appeal of the
judgments of the Stockholm City Court and Svea Court of Appeal against
V&S ordering the cancellation of V&S´ registration of the Golden Gate
trademark in Sweden. The judgments in favor of GSV are now final.
The Svea Court of Appeal and the Stockholm City Court have
previously ruled in GSV´s favor and have found that (1) V&S infringed
GSV´s trademark rights by falsely claiming that V&S secured permission
from GSV to use GSV´s Golden Gate mark on V&S´ labels for the Golden
Gate brand and (2) V&S breached a license agreement with GSV by
registering the trademark Golden Gate in Sweden without GSV´s
permission, and selling wine under the trademark Golden Gate in Sweden
from suppliers other than GSV.
"There are no more avenues left for V&S to try and spin its
fictitious story of self-creation of the Golden Gate trademark,"
stated Ulrike Backhaus-Mueller, Managing Director of TWG -- Europe.
Ms. Backhaus-Mueller further remarked, "The Swedish Courts have
consistently confirmed our contention that TWG is the rightful owner
of the Golden Gate trademark and that V&S breached its license
agreement by taking the mark and secretly registering it for its own
benefit. V&S has rebuffed our numerous attempts to settle this dispute
over the years and arrogantly continues to believe that it has
committed no wrong when in fact it has consistently engaged in a
series of bad faith actions with the intent to harm GSV. V&S´ actions
of engaging in deceptive marketing practices, continuing to sell
counterfeit wine under the Golden Gate trade dress and perpetuating
consumer confusion about the wine´s origin and authenticity have
completely destroyed the value of the one-time best selling and highly
regarded Golden Gate brand in Sweden. GSV now intends to vigorously
pursue its claim for damages which are approximately 235 million
kronor.
"These judgments also confirm what we have been telling
Systembolaget for over two years. Now that ownership of the Golden
Gate trademark is finally settled, we call upon Systembolaget to at
long last take immediate action to prevent further harm to GSV by
suspending V&S´ current listings of California White and California
Red which contain images on the labels and packaging in violation of
GSV´s rights, and removing from its stores the inferior wine supplied
under V&S´ infringing packaging and labels. The brand sold by V&S in
Sweden continues to violate the rights of GSV and is counterfeit,
inferior wine produced by a different producer than the producer that
created the best selling wine in Sweden. It is now time for
Systembolaget to immediately rectify this situation and to take action
to prevent any further harm to GSV by one of its top customers."
