Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/314400
68 p r a c t i c a l w i n e r y & v i n e ya r d J U n e 2 0 1 4 g r a p e g r o w i n g w i n e M a r K e T i n g by other wineries that contract with the vineyard owner. Wineries are often unaware that a vine- yard designation or block designation actually belongs to the vineyard owner. Many wineries feel that if they are using the vineyard designation on a wine, and popularizing the vineyard name, they should own the rights to the vineyard or block designate as a trademark. While this may be a questionable legal position, this attitude among some win- eries may nevertheless be problematic from a practical perspective. Should a winery successfully register rights in a mark that is used as a vineyard- or block- designate, the vineyard owner will need to spend considerable time and money in a potentially unsuccessful effort to regain clear rights to the name. The best way a vineyard owner can protect him or her- self is to register their brands and prop- erly license them to a winery. Licensing of rights To maintain trademark rights, an owner must control the quality of goods sold under the mark. For a vineyard owner, this can be accomplished through specific provisions in a grape contract or through a related trade- mark license agreement, which is separate from the grape contract. A license will clearly establish that, as between the vineyard and the winery, the vineyard is the owner of the mark and the winery (and its use of the desig- nate) is subject to the terms of the license as well as the vineyard owner 's control of the quality of wine provided under the mark. In practice, such quality control can often be administered in a nondisruptive, nonin- trusive manner (i.e., sufficient quality may be presumed based on maintenance of quality heretofore maintained by the win- ery operation). The strategy of enhancing the value of grapes by identifying their origin from a certain vineyard is also widely used to enhance the value of other agri- cultural commodities, such as cattle from a certain ranch, or spinach from a particular farm. As the commodity producer, it is important to register the trademarks for the brands used with these agricultural products so that the commodities them- selves (as well as the land from which they come) can accrue value, prestige and reputation, which inures to the brand assets. Are you adequately protecting your vineyard designate or agricultural com- modity? PWV Katja Loeffelholz is a registered attorney with the United States Patent and Trade- mark Office and Of Counsel to Dickenson, Peatman & Fogarty. Contact her at kl@ dpf-law.com. To maintain trademark rights, an owner must control the quality of goods sold under the mark. Are you adequately pro- tecting your vineyard designate or agricultural commodity?