Salcombe argues Nyetimber trademark ‘not distinct’
English gin maker Salcombe Distilling Co has denied infringing Nyetimber’s trademark, claiming that the ‘Product of England’ term is “neither exclusive nor distinct to any one brand”.
In April, English sparkling wine producer Nyetimber filed a lawsuit against Salcombe Distilling Company, alleging that the gin maker infringes on its ‘Product of England’ trademark.
The wine maker has owned the UK and EU trademark for the Nyetimber name with the text ‘Product of England’ underneath since 2015, which can be seen on the bottle’s front label.
Devon-based Salcombe Distilling Co uses the words ‘Product of England’ on the front of the label for two of its gins, Start Point and Rosé Sainte Marie. The lawsuit claims that Salcombe began applying these words to its products from around July 2019.
Nyetimber believes that Salcombe’s use of the ‘Product of England’ line is comparable to its trademark as it alleges that the typeface is highly similar, if not identical, and uses the same offset position for the ‘O’ and ‘F’.
Salcombe, which is represented by Thomas Chartres-Moore, head of IP at Stephens Scown, filed its defence to the lawsuit on 23 May.
Salcombe said that it did not consider Nyetimber to be a competitor as they do not produce spirits.
The gin maker also claimed it had not intended to mimic Nyetimber’s trademarks, adding that its label was designed by a third party.
Salcombe admitted that its use of the words ‘Product of England’ are presented in the publicly available font Sackers Gothic, and that the ‘O’ and ‘F’ are offset in a smaller size.
Salcombe argued that no damage has been caused to Nyetimber, and that no confusion had been triggered between the two products.
‘Incapable of being a trademark’
In its defence, Chartres-Moore said: “Our client has no intention of riding on the coat-tails of Nyetimber’s reputation – on the contrary, it has worked hard to define the Salcombe brand’s unique position in the marketplace.
“The two products’ overall appearance are dramatically different. Nyetimber (wines), and our client’s products (distilled spirits), are not interchangeable. This means a consumer is highly unlikely to confuse the two products.”
He added that the ‘Product of England’ term was “commonplace across the food and drink industry” and indicates to consumers where the product is made.
Chartres-Moore continued: “As it is descriptive and identifies a geographic origin, the wording is incapable of being a trademark.”
Salcombe Distilling’s co-founders Howard Davies and Angus Lugsdin said in a joint statement that they were “surprised” by Nyetimber’s trademark infringement claim.
The statement continued: “This [Product of England] phrase is a designation of origin used by numerous sparkling wine and spirits products on their packaging; it is certainly neither exclusive nor distinct to any one brand.
“Our gin is handcrafted at our waterside distillery in England, a provenance we’re extremely proud of and one of many components of our brand’s overall packaging.
“From inception our brand has been proudly defined by Salcombe’s beautiful English coastal location and its rich heritage; we have never had any desire or intent to create any similarities in our products with other brands.”
Nyetimber refused to provide a comment when asked by The Spirits Business.
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