Wei He, 1 June 2022, first published by INTA

In a judgment rendered on February 22, 2022, the Beijing Intellectual Property Rights Court affirmed that CHAMPAGNE, as a geographic indication (GI) and collective mark, held well-known status in China and was granted the cross-class protection.

Champagne is recognized worldwide as a famous GI. Produced only in France’s Champagne wine region, the sparkling wine is protected as a GI under the rules of the appellation. The Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC) represents all parties (growers, wine houses, cooperatives, merchants, etc.) involved in the production of Champagne. One of the organization’s responsibilities is to protect the GI globally. In China, CIVC owns the GI and collective mark CHAMPAGNE (No. 11127266) and its Chinese characters 香槟 (No. 11127267).

In 2020, CIVC discovered that Guangzhou Xue Lei, a Chinese cosmetic company, launched a perfume called Champagne Life (香槟人生).

CIVC was concerned that Guangzhou Xue Lei was not only intentionally benefiting from Champagne’s reputation in the marketplace, but its use of Champagne Life weakened the GI’s distinctiveness. CIVC therefore filed a lawsuit in April 2020 (2020 Jing 73 Min Chu 371) against Guangzhou Xue Lei, claiming the cross-class protection of its well-known trademark.

The Beijing Intellectual Property Rights Court rendered its judgment of first instance on February 22, 2022, affirming that CIVC’s GI and collective mark held well-known status in China and was granted the cross-class protection. In its judgment, the court made clear that the Champagne GI has two special characteristics that give it well-known status: (1) it must be in use as a GI for many years before it can be registered as a collective trademark; and (2) rather than CIVC, as the trademark holder, CIVC members (such as Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon, Perrier-Jouët, and Veuve Clicquot) actually use the trademark commercially. As such, when examining the reputation of a GI collective mark, it is necessary to consider the reputation of CVIC members as well as the previous reputation of the GI prior to the registration of its GI trademark.

This is the first time a foreign GI and collective mark has been granted cross-class protection as a well-known trademark in China. The judgment indicates that Chinese courts are leaning toward acknowledgment of the commercial value of GIs in granting well-known protection. Guangzhou Xue Lei filed an appeal in April 2022, and it therefore remains to be seen whether the court’s judgment will stand.