The renown of the Côtes du Rhône Protected Designation of Origin has aroused the covetousness of certain economic operators who are seeking, unduly, to profit from it. On May 26, 2023, the Paris Court of Appeal condemned a wine sales company for registering with the INPI several trademarks including the word "Rhône", a distinctive term of the Côtes du Rhône appellation, as well as their use for wines benefiting from this appellation. The Côtes du Rhône appellation was recognized by decree on November 19, 1937. Only red, rosé and white wines produced in the appellation area and meeting the criteria of the appellation's Cahier des charges may benefit from it.

Details of the case

As the appellation's Organisme de Défense et de Gestion, the Côtes du Rhône winegrowers' union has set up a program to combat, on the legal front, economic operators whose behavior is likely to misappropriate or exploit the reputation of the Côtes du Rhône PDO.

The legal department of the Syndicat des Vignerons des Côtes du Rhône and the Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité (INAO) took up the case after detecting the registration of trademarks reproducing the word "Rhône", the appellation's distinctive term. Following the failure of amicable negotiations, the two bodies were forced to take their claims to court, and summoned the company owning the trademarks before the Paris Court of First Instance. As the trial judges did not fully grasp the specificity of the Geographical Indication regulations, INAO and the Syndicat appealed the decision on May 12, 2021.

By decision dated May 26, 2023, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld the arguments of INAO and the Syndicat des Vignerons des Côtes du Rhône.

A decisive ruling

The Court fully follows the arguments developed by INAO and the Syndicat, noting that "Rhône" constitutes the dominant element of the Côtes du Rhône and Côtes du Rhône Villages PDOs, identified as referring to the wines of the protected appellation.

The Court recalls that "the use of the protected appellation of origin, in an imitative or evocative form, is prohibited, including for a wine benefiting from the said appellation". Above all, the Court ruled that the name registered in the Cahier des charges may only be used identically, without any possible imitation or evocation. Thus, it is not possible to escape prosecution by using only part of the appellation name: "a wine conforming to a Cahier des charges and benefiting from an appellation of origin may only use the latter in its registered form, any other use being unauthorized, whether it be an imitation or an evocation, and whether this imitation or evocation concerns one or all of the components of an appellation".
The Court of Appeal also points out that the defense argument of third-party use of the "Rhône" appellation is irrelevant: it is inoperative to rely on illegal third-party deposits or uses to justify one's own illegality.

The Syndicat and INAO are delighted with this landmark decision, which enshrines several years of work and effort to protect the appellation. It rewards the efforts of the Côtes du Rhône winegrowers in promoting their terroir, to which they are so attached, and of the INAO in its mission to protect Geographical Indications.

In addition, the Paris Court ordered the operator to pay the Syndicat and the INAO substantial damages, as well as partial reimbursement of the legal fees incurred by the Syndicat and the INAO. This decision may be appealed to the French Supreme Court.

Organizations with complementary roles

The Syndicat des Vignerons des Côtes du Rhône and INAO play complementary roles.

The Syndicat de protection de l'Appellation d'Origine Protégée (AOP) Côtes du Rhône promotes and oversees the protection of this famous appellation in order to defend the interests of all producers of wines benefiting from this denomination. INAO is the public body in charge of implementing French policy on quality and origin identification signs. As such, it contributes to the promotion and defense of these signs, and in particular PDOs, both in France and abroad, including before the courts when necessary. It provides important support to the Syndicats.