First goats, now chooks. This should not surprise any of you, but the French have demonstrated yet again that they are defending their place in the world of wine by resorting to protectionism instead of competition. Their target this time is Australian winemaker and show chook breeder, Adam Marks, who has perhaps unwisely chosen as the brand of his wine name the term ‘Bress’. Why unwisely? Because the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine, which governs all things French and agricultural, has a long and regrettable history of attacking anyone who uses anything within earshot, or cockerel’s cry of a French term. In this instance, when spelt with another ‘e’, ie as ‘Bresse’, the term is known in relation to French chicken and turkey, as ‘La Volaille de Bresse’ and ‘La Dinde de Bresse’. The actual French case is that through his patently incorrect use of the ‘Bress’ Trademark, Adam Marks will deceive and cause confusion between his Australian wine labelled Bress and French chicken and turkey products from the appellations of Bresse. Again, while the French track record suggests to me that Marks should have seen this coming, the very notion that there is any substance to the French case is simply preposterous, even if the chicken or turkey products were indeed available for consumption in Australia, which they are not. According to Marks, this is the first case in Australia in which the INAO has attempted to use the Appellation laws governing one type of agricultural product to oppose a trademark issue within another. He suggests that as a consequence, the potential significance of this case may be enormous. Trouble is, I’ll bet the French have more money to throw at the legal community than does Adam Marks. So they will win, again.
