As part of the Australian government’s $50 million Export and Regional Wine Support Package, a new wine export label directory designed to help Australian producers protect their intellectual property rights was launched earlier this month. The Directory will help to better protect Australian wine producers against copycat exporters and counterfeiters and bolster consumer confidence in the reputation and integrity of Australian wines.
Legislation establishing the Directory was passed by Parliament at the end of sittings last year, namely the Wine Australian Amendment (Label Directory) Act 2020.
The Directory, administered by Wine Australia, requires exporters of wines from Australia to submit images of the front and back labels of their wines for export as part of the process for gaining export approval.
The aim of the publicly available Directory is to allow anyone to upload an image of any wine label they find and compare it to a list of genuine exported Australian labels, thus providing greater confidence to consumers, retailers and distributors of Australian wine products as to the authenticity of their wines.
The Directory also allows brand owners to search and monitor for new labels containing marks (eg, images, words or brand names) similar to their own, in order to identify potential counterfeit or infringing products, both intended for export and (potentially) in parallel under a similar brand within Australia.
Importantly, however, it remains paramount for brand owners to seek to protect their labels through trade mark registration, both in Australia and in overseas markets to which they export, as Wine Australia’s remit does not extend to private trade mark enforcement. Protection will still need to be sought via securing relevant trade mark registrations, and taking advantage of local customs notification procedures at the borders where available. That said, Wine Australia has indicated in the FAQs on its website that where it is satisfied that an exporter is engaged in conduct such as copycat activity, it may consider whether to cancel or suspend an exporter’s licence.
The Directory, in combination with ongoing protection and enforcement provided by a robust and well-considered trade mark strategy, can only be a good thing for the ongoing success and integrity of Australian wines and those of us who enjoy drinking them – cheers to that!
Visit Wine Australia’s website, here.