Australia
December 21 2020
A new wine export label directory to help Australian wine producers protect their intellectual property rights is expected to commence in April 2021.
The Wine Australia Amendment (Label Directory) Bill 2019 finally passed both houses of Parliament on 9 December 2020 enabling Wine Australia to establish the wine export label directory helping brand owners protect their export wine labels against copycat labelling.
While regulations implementing the detail of the directory are currently being finalized, Wine Australia says “the directory will require all Australian wine exporters to submit images of their labels to Wine Australia prior to gaining export approval. Brand owners will then be able to search the directory to identify breaches of their intellectual property rights, and the public will be able to verify whether the Australian wines they consume originated in Australia.”
The establishment of the new wine export label directory follows a number of significant instances of counterfeiting of Australian wine brands in export markets, particularly in Asia, starting with the seizure in November 2017 of 14,000 bottles of fake Penfolds wine being sold by counterfeiters in China.
We will provide an update when further information about the new wine export label directory becomes available.
Co-Author: Alyssa Lahanis – Law Graduate