France's Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité has filed an opposition with the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board contesting Teastream LLC's application to register "Champagne's Sober Cousin" for tea products. Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité v. Teastream LLC, No. 91241975 (T.T.A.B., opposition filed June 25, 2018). The French agency asserts that the mark would infringe on the country's protected designation of origin for sparkling wines from the Champagne region, allegedly resulting in "dilution by blurring and by tarnishment" of a famous mark. Meanwhile, France's Directorate General of Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control has reportedly investigated "anomalies, deceptions and fraud" in the sale of Spanish wine. The investigation purportedly found that several merchants sold as many as 10 million bottles of Spanish wine as French by falsely marking the bottles with "vin du France" or misleadingly marketing them with French elements, such as the…
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A Québec court has allowed to proceed a consumer's lawsuit alleging Sunwing Vacations Inc. misrepresented its "Champagne Service" because it served sparkling wine produced outside of the Champagne region of France. Macduff v. Sunwing Vacations Inc., No. 2017 QCCS 4540 (Québec Super. Ct., entered October 11, 2017). Sunwing argues that it uses the terms “champagne service” and “champagne vacation” to denote the level of service its hospitality packages provide rather than referring to a specific beverage served to customers. According to Canada’s National Post, about 1,600 potential class members have joined the lawsuit since it was filed.
