Wine Trademark and Trade Dress Dispute – San Antonio Winery Sues Banfi Products

Los Angeles, CA – San Antonio Winery filed a trademark and trade dress declaratory judgment action against Banfi Products. San Antonio’s Stella Rosa Imperiale Brachetto d’Acqui wine is made from Brachetto grapes that are sourced from the D.O.C.G. region of Brachetto d’Acqui. San Antonio has registered its Stella Rosa design trademark with the USPTO. Banfi’s Rosa Regale Brachetto d’Acqui wine is also made from Brachetto grapes sourced from the same region.

Banfi’s cease and desist letter to San Antonio allegedly contended that Banfi had protectable rights in the “combination of the label design and placement, the color scheme, the bottle shape and color, and the wording on Banfi’s product is distinctive or has acquired distinctiveness through secondary meaning such that the designated combination of elements constitutes protectable trade dress and that the designated trade dress is not functional.”

San Antonio disagrees and seeks the Court’s ruling that its wine bottle “does not infringing any valid, enforceable trademark or trade dress rights of Banfi under any provisions of the Lanham Act or constitute unfair competition under any state unfair competition laws.” The case is San Antonio Winery, Inc. v. Banfi Products Corporation, CV10-9245 MMM (C.D. Cal. 2010).