NZ: Napa Valley Vintners registers brand name in New Zealand

By Andy Morton | 26 June 2013

Napa Valley Vinters wants to protect its brand name

Trade association Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) has registered the Napa Valley trademark in New Zealand.

The move will protect against New Zealand wines “illegitimately labelled” as coming from Napa Valley, NVV said yesterday (25 June). "Although New Zealand is not a major export market for Napa Valley wine, it is an important wine producer and there is potential for misuse of the Napa Valley name,” an NVV spokesperson said.

The registration, with New Zealand's Intellectual Property Office, follows similar moves in Brazil, Canada, Thailand, India and the EU. Last year, Napa Valley became the first international wine region to be granted Geographical Indication status by China.

"This (New Zealand) registration is another achievement in our ongoing effort to ensure consumer confidence that when a bottle of wine says 'Napa Valley' in the brand name, the wine in that bottle is indeed produced from Napa Valley grapes,” the spokesperson said.

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Sectors: Wine