China cracks down on counterfeiters
05 December 2008
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Peter Ollier and Janice Qu, Hong Kong
A Shanghai court has awarded Rmb1.25 million ($182,000) to Diageo in a landmark case against a Shanghai company that was copying the trade dress of its bestselling Johnnie Walker Black Label Whisky
The November 27 decision by the No 2 Intermediate People's Court was for an anti-unfair competition passing-off action rather than trade mark infringement.
Diageo argued that Blueblood (Shanghai) Wine Co Ltd was using the same square bottle as Johnnie Walker and similar labels to sell its Polonius whisky. Diageo also accused Blueblood of selling Polonius online using pictures of Johnnie Walker
“It is a remarkable decision...we argued that the defendant was copying the get-up of the bottle – that’s a pretty sophisticated argument in any jurisdiction,” said Luke Minford, China country manager for Rouse, which acted for Diageo in the case.
The decision is part of a...
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