(De)Classifying Wine
The New York Times: Classified Matters
The controversy currently affecting the French town of St. Emilion is a great example of how politically charged (and economically important) the development and application of classifications can be. Bordeaux’s wine classification, dating from the initial Classification of 1855, serves as a key indication of quality for the wines produced in the region, and vineyards who can put the “Grand Cru Classé” label on their bottles can command much higher prices that those who can’t. The interesting thing here is what’s being classified – is it the history and geographic location of the vineyard , the quality of the wine, how well it conforms to a certain style or character, the historical fair market value of the wine, or something else entirely? And who gets to decide? The answers to these questions have very real consequences for the vineyard owners, especially those whose wine has been declassified, and has led to a nasty lawsuit that’s thrown the entire classification system into disarray.
Relevant lecture: 8. Classification (9/24)
Longhao Wang Said,
September 7, 2008 @ 9:41 pm
Exactly the same story about wine classification happened in China too! I heard about the story before I get on the plane to SF and just find it out.
A wine company named Zhangyu filed a trademark of a wine “Jiebaina” in the year 1937 to the government of “Republic of China”. This trademark later became very popular with the high-end market and the wine with this trademark was priced much higher than average. With the establishment of “the People’s Republic of China” in 1949, this trademark belongs to the “People”, and a great many other wine companies produced wine carrying the same trademark “Jiebaina”, so this trademark virtually become a “classification” of high-end wine.
In 2002, Zhangyu company started a lawsuit, claiming “Jiebaina” is its own proprietary trademark and no other wine can use this name. All the other wine companied immediately lined up against Zhangyu, insisting that “Jiebaina” is a “classification”, not a “trademark”. This lawsuit goes on for SIX YEARS, from 2002 to 2008, with Zhangyu finally reclaiming its trademark. This dispute about “classification of wine” comes to be known as “No.1 intellectual property case” in the history of the country.
Jim Sherman Said,
December 1, 2008 @ 3:57 pm
Wouldn’t the trademarking claim by the Zhangyu company face some serious obstacles due to laches and failure to exclusively control the use of the name over such a long period of time? It seems to me that under U.S. trademark law, the “Jiebaina” lawsuit would have met with a different outcome. Interesting case though.