A Prosecco-based legal row in the US has gone to court, with E&J Gallo Winery alleging ‘trade dress’ infringement by Henkell Freixenet unit Freixenet Mionetto USA.
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York has started hearing the case lodged by Gallo regarding Freixenet Mionetto’s Bollicini Prosecco brand, a direct competitor, the California-headquartered group claims, of Gallo’s La Marca Prosecco. The lawsuit, filed earlier this year, alleges that Bollicini’s packaging represents an “infringement” of Gallo’s trade dress for La Marca “which Gallo has used for many years”.
La Marca “has been the best-selling Prosecco in the US for many years – and is now the best-selling sparkling wine in the US as well,” Gallo states in the filing.
“The trade dress … consists of “a three-dimensional configuration of a green bottle with a silver cover on the neck and cap of the bottle”,” said Gallo, citing its registration from 2015. “”At the base of the neck is a light blue neck label, and there is a light blue square bottle label positioned on the lower midsection of the bottle”.”
Discussions between the two companies about the issue opened in August 2020 although no resolution was reached by May this year, prompting the commencement of legal proceedings.
Henkell Freixenet, which claims to be the world’s largest sparkling wine producer, owns both Freixenet Mionetto USA and CL Direct Imports, both of whom are named as the defendants.
To view the filing, click here.
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