Taittinger SA v Allbev Ltd

JurisdictionEngland & Wales
Judgment Date25 June 1993
Date25 June 1993
CourtCourt of Appeal (Civil Division)
Taittinger and Others
and
Allbev Ltd and Others

Before Sir Thomas Bingham, Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Mann and Lord Justice Peter Gibson

Court of Appeal

Passing-off - "Elderflower Champagne" - damage to goodwill

Non-alcoholic sparkling fruit drink cannot be labelled as being `champagne'

A non-alcoholic sparkling fruit drink marketed under the name "Elderflower Champagne" which neither was champagne nor had any connection with its producers eroded the goodwill in the distinctiveness and exclusivity of the name "champagne" so as to cause damage of an insidious but serious kind to its producers and entitled them to an injunction restraining use of the word.

The Court of Appeal so held allowing an appeal by the plaintiffs, Taittinger, suing on behalf of itself and all other persons producing wine in the Champagne district of France and shipping it to England and Wales, Comite Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne and Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, from Sir Mervyn Davies, who, sitting as a judge of the Chancery Division (The Times February 11), had dismissed their claim in a passing off action for injunctive relief to restrain the defendants, Allbev Ltd, Guy Woodall and Sheila Woodall, trading as Thorncroft Vineyard, from using the word "champagne" in relation to their product.

The court discharged the judge's order for an enquiry as to damages. The plaintiffs sought no such enquiry on the appeal.

In support of their claim the plaintiffs relied principally on the labelling on the bottle entitling the product "Elderflower Champagne" and to a lesser extent on the appearance of the bottle and cork with its wire retaining device.

The defendants had asserted that the product was not represented to be champagne, but a traditional English country drink unrelated to it, and that any association with champagne was negatived by the information displayed on the bottle that the drink was non-alcoholic, the cork resealable, that its provenance was Surrey and by its price.

Mr Charles Sparrow, QC and Mr Nicolas Bragge for the plaintiffs; Mr Stuart Isaacs, QC and Mr Neil Calver for the defendants.

LORD JUSTICE PETER GIBSON referred to the authoritative modern formulation of what constituted the tort of passing off in Warnink (Erven) BV v J Townsend & Sons (Hull) LtdELR ((1979) AC 731), the Advocaat case, where Lord Diplock, having pointed out that the tort had been extended beyond its classic form whereby the tortfeasor misrepresented...

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6 books & journal articles
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