US: Gallo Sues Hilton to Block Use of Its Name

The US wine giant E&J Gallo is suing the famous Hilton Hotels Corp to stop it from opening a chain of Italian restaurants named Gallo Rosso, according to today's Los Angeles times.   Gallo says it has $600m since it began using the name in 1933 promoting the name and selling billions of bottles of wine. It claims consumers would "invariably associate" the new restaurants with Gallo wines, causing "Gallo to lose control of the manner in which its famous trademark is promoted." Consumers would subsequently get the impression "there are now two Gallo brands, one for wine and another for Italian restaurants."