Last year, the Penglai Yunque Chateau in Shandong was accused by the Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) of violating the collective trademark “Bordeaux”.
It was reported that the company was selling wine products that were not made from the designated wine region, but nevertheless boasted labels with “Bordeaux” written on them, and were falsely advertised as “directly imported from the region with guaranteed quality”.
The misuse of the trademark had led to unfair competition, the court ruled. Hence, CIVB filed the case to halt the infringement and compensate its losses. As a result, the court states Penglai Yunque Chateau owes CIVB some 500,000RMB (£56,840) in compensation.
The protection of Geographical Indication (GI) was granted by China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in 2015.
The Chinese are violating trademark laws? Never in a million years!
Literally, they don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.