P1246341504fVIqA

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GIs Trademark The Napa Valley Brand St
Louis, MO May 17, 2005
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• The Napa Valley Brand
• Napa Valley Overview
• Geographical Indication Issues

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Napa Valley Overview

• Great wine is a reflection of where it is grown
  its character demonstrates a sense of place
• Soil
• Climate
• Aspect

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Northern California
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San Francisco Bay Area
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Napa Valley Physical Diversity
Geologic History
Soils
Climates
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Tectonic Plate and Volcanic Influences
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Soil Series Distribution
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Marine Influence
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Morning Fog
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Aspect Map
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Stags Leap District
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Oakville
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Napa Valley Overview

• Recognized as one of the great winegrowing
  regions of the world
• Critical Recognition
• Market Value
• bottle price (15 to 250)

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Napa Valley Overview

• More than 390 wineries in Napa Valley, but total
  volume of wine is small
• Napa Valley accounts for
• 4 of the wine produced in California
• 22 economic impact of the California wine
  industry

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Napa Valley Overview

• Value of Napa Valley Brand undeniable

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Geographical Indication Issues
Consumer Confusion
Napa (or Napa Valley or Sub-Appellation) in
Brand Name
Consumers Assume Napa Valley Wine in the Bottle
January 2001, Field Research Corporation Survey
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Geographical Indication Issues

• American Viticultural Areas (AVA)
• System established in 1981 to recognize and
  protect U.S. wine growing areas.
• Napa Valley was among the first to be officially
  granted status as an AVA in 1981

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Geographical Indication Issues

• Trend in U.S. increasing importance of AVAs
• Currently 46 applications for new AVAs waiting
  to be processed by TTB
• Napa Valley contains 13 unique AVAs within its
  boundaries

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Geographical Indication Issues

• Misuse of Napa brand
• Bottlings from California-based Napa Ridge, Napa
  Creek, Rutherford Vintners contain NO NAPA VALLEY
  fruit
• Misdescriptive use issues relative to China and
  Spain
• Clear cases of consumer confusion

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Geographical Indication Issues

• Regulatory Protection for Napa Brand
• U.S. AVA (American Viticultural Area) system.
• Includes Federal law passed in 1986 preventing
  misleading use going forward.
• Does not address pre-existing misdescriptive
  uses.

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Geographical Indication Issues

• Regulatory Protection for Napa Brand
• (cont.)
• California State Law passed in 2000 making
  inappropriate use illegal for brands existing
  prior to 1986
• Legal challenge to law has prevented its taking
  effect

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Geographical Indication Issues

• Trademark Protection for Napa Brand
• Limited
• High Cost

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Geographical Indication Issues

• NVV official position on Geographic Indicators
  for wine
• The NVV supports governmental protection and
  enhancement of AVAs and GIs.
• The use of place names for wine, whether in
  brands, labels, promotional materials,
  advertisements or otherwise, should not mislead
  consumers as to the origin of the grapes in that
  wine.

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Geographical Indication Issues

• NVV official position on Geographic Indicators
  for wine
• The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) recognizes the
  importance of place and place names throughout
  the world to indicate grape origin and wine
  character attributable to that origin.
• The NVV supports the establishment of American
  Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in the United States
  and of other systems of geographical indications
  (GIs) for wine around the world.

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Geographical Indication Issues

• Actions to uphold these principles protect Napa
  brand (cont.)
• Take steps to ensure that, if there is an
  international method of protection for geographic
  names for wine, the names of Napa Valley and of
  those AVAs wholly contained within Napa Valley
  shall be included.

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Geographical Indication Issues

• Actions to uphold these principles protect Napa
  brand (cont.)
• Legal actions underway to uphold State law
• Pursuing legal recourse for inappropriate use
  both inside and outside of US

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Geographical Indication Issues

• Actions to uphold these principles protect Napa
  brand (cont.)
• Encourage the United States to conclude the Wine
  Accords, including phasing out the use of
  semi-generic names to designate wines of an
  origin other than that indicated by such names.

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Summary

• Napa Valley Unique wines from a unique place
• Consumers expect Napa brands to be Napa wines
• GI protection is an ongoing, long-
• term effort