Vin & Sprit has lost its appeal against The Wine Group subsidiary Golden State Vintners over the use of the Golden Gate trademark in Sweden.
Late last week, the Supreme Court in Sweden rejected V&S's appeal regarding the ordered cancellation of its registration of the trademark, confirming that judgments in GSV's favour were "now final".
Last September, Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm sided with GSV and ordered the cancellation of V&S' registration of the Golden Gate trademark. The court also awarded damages to GSV for breach of contract.
The Court of Appeal said that V&S infringed GSV's trademark rights by falsely claiming that it had secured permission to use the mark as well as breaching a license agreement by registering and selling wine under the trademark without permission.
GSV said that it intends to "vigorously pursue" its claim for damages which are approximately SEK235m (US$38.5m), adding that, now that the trademark dispute is settled, it can call on Systembolaget to suspend V&S' current listings of California White and California Red and remove the wine from its stores.
Sectors: Wine
