(TDB) - Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) has filed legal action against “copycat” producer Rush Rich in Australia over trademark infringements that it claims “exploit TWE’s iconic Penfolds brand”, as well as its Chinese transliteration of Ben Fu.

The case has been initiated by TWE to stop the infringement of its rights by Rush Rich, both in Australia and in China that, which is said could “significantly damage the reputation of TWE’s iconic brands” if action is not taken.

The brand in question is believed to be sourced and bottled through bulk wine suppliers and third party bottlers in South Australia, and then exported under labels that copy the look and feel of Penfolds wines, infringing TWE’s rights to the Penfolds and Ben Fu 奔富 trademarks.

In Chinese, Penfolds is transliterated as Ben Fu (奔富), which means ‘chasing prosperity’, however taken literally it can be translated back into English as ‘to rush’.

The lawsuit follows a landmark legal win in the Beijing High People’s Court in China in January 2017 that supported TWE’s lawful right to use and market the Ben Fu trademark in China. A final judgement handed down by the Beijing People’s High Court confirmed that a Chinese individual who had registered the Ben Fu trademark in 2009 had failed to demonstrate any genuine use of the trademark for wine or related business activities. The trademark was subsequently cancelled, allowing TWE to claim its right to ownership of the Ben Fu name, and freely use it across China.