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Brown-Forman in dispute with château Chambord
Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman is hoping to “amicably resolve” a trademark dispute with famous French château Chambord.
Château Chambord plans to release its own brand of wine
The 16th century Chambord estate, based in the Loire Valley, has filed plans to use the trademarks Chateau de Chambord, Domain de Chambord and Clos de Chambord for its own brand of wine.
US spirits group Brown-Forman produces the Chambord raspberry liqueur and owns the Chambord trademark in connection with liqueurs in the European Union, as well as other markets.
In a statement, the company said that “as early as June 2016”, its lawyers informed the château that its trademark plans “would be acceptable to us subject to certain limitations”.
However, Brown-Forman said that it now understands château Chambord “plans to use the Chambord trademark in connection with alcoholic beverages other than wines of protected geographical indication or protected designation of origin”.
Brown-Forman-owned Chambord is a black raspberry liqueur
The group said such a move would be “of great concern to us as we believe such use would violate our trademark rights”.
A spokesperson added: “Our preference is to resolve this matter amicably and we remain hopeful that we will be able to do so.
“In an effort to end the dispute, our global brand director and intellectual property attorney have offered to travel to Paris for a meeting since September 2017 and as soon as the DNC [Domaine national de Chambord] makes known available dates, the meeting will be set up.”
The Spirits Business has approached château Chambord for comment.