Godfather Director sues Wine brand for trademark infringement

Francis Ford Coppola, the director of The Godfather Trilogy and now owner of a Californian vineyard, has recently been involved in a trademark infringement case. GMYL, who own Coppola’s US wine trademarks, “Coppola” and “Director’s Cut”, sued Copa di Vino, a vineyard in Oregon, for infringement.

According to the World IP Review, the firm recently chose to sue Copa di Vino since they had been using the trademark ‘Copa’ on their wines, which is similar to their trademark and could lead to confusion for consumers in the marketplace as to the source identity of the goods.

GMYL, also stated that the Oregon vineyard had infringed their trade dress by imitating their Diamond Collection Black Label Claret wine which consists of a  black rectangular label, branded with the word “Coppola”. The bottle is also encompassed in a gold net that “presents an overall diamond pattern”.

Furthermore, the plaintiff has stated that the defendant was aware of their brand since the latter had approached the Francis Coppola Winery in 2011 to discuss a potential business deal.

We shall have to wait to hear the outcome of this case.

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