The December 2014/January 2015 Volume 6, Issue 1 of the Hong Kong-based legal media CHINA BUSINESS LAW JOURNAL has launched its 2014 Deals of the Year award.

The administrative enforcement action against the local retailers of parallel import Absolut Vodka spirits with identifier code removed, which is initiated on the ground of trademark infringement by Wan Hui Da on behalf of Pernod Ricard in Urumchi, is listed among the five IP winning cases of the Journal.

The French giant wine and spirit producer’s first victory against parallel import spirits in China dates back to a civil litigation against local retailers in Suzhou in 2013. Wan Hui Da helps the group get a favorable ruling from Suzhou Court, in which the Court finds the defendants guilty of trademark infringement on the ground that the removal of the identifier code has compromised the identifying function of the trademark, which infringes the consumers’ right to know about product origin and information, and interferes with the trademark owner’s tracking on product quality.

The administrative enforcement action in Urumchi echoes the local LEO’s (law enforcement authority) attitude towards parallel import spirits.