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Wine, Spirits & Terroirs
The Wine, Spirits & Terroirs team offers 360° legal expertise to producers, distributors, interprofessional organizations and appellation syndicates. They provide legal advice (notably on managing food and wine trademark portfolios and on Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications), handle litigation before French and European courts, and assist clients with all administrative formalities (in particular, applications for the registration of a designation of origin or a geographical indication).
| FIELD | OUR AREAS OF EXPERTISE |
|---|---|
| PRODUCTION | • Rural leases • Farmer status, SAFER, and structure control • Agricultural undertakings - cooperatives • Authorizations for vine planting • Supply contracts • Regulatory framework for production, manufacture, and control protocols of foodstuff products |
| VALUE CREATION | • Regulation for quality signs: PDO/PGI/GI regulations, GIs for non-agricultural products, organic farming, traditional labels, and quality labels • Defense of GI (direct and indirect commercial use, evocation…) • Administrative procedures before French and European authorities regarding PDO/PGI/GI (registration, amendment, and cancellation of product specifications) and trademarks • Litigation related to the respect of the PDO/PGI product specification |
| COMMERCIALIZATION | • Labelling and packaging • Advertisement of alcohol • Commercial restrictions to alcohol • Securing marketing projects • Sales contracts for food products • Distribution law (distribution contracts, agent contracts) • Unfair competition law • European and international trade in wines and spirits • Internal Market (freedoms & competition) • State aid • ECHR applying in the food sector • E-commerce (CGV, marketplace), digital (NFT, metaverse) • Customs procedures |
| TAXATION | • Prevention – tax audit • Alcohol taxation and excise duties • Taxation of farms, vineyards and cooperatives • International wines and spirits taxation • E-commerce taxation • Taxation of added-value of agricultural holdings and of transfer of ownership • Legal assistance and representation in tax audits |
| TRADEMARKS AND BRANDING |
• Wine, spirits, brewery and food trademarks • Collective and certification marks • Family name trademarks • Management and auditing of trademark portfolios • Designs and copyrights • Patents and plant variety rights • Domain names • Business and trade secret |
| ANTI-COUNTERFEITING | • Intellectual property litigation and disputes: counterfeiting, unfair and parasitic competition • Online anti-counterfeiting (web monitoring, domain name recovery and buy-back) • Customs procedures • Administrative procedures relating to oenological practices, food safety controls and consumer information • Criminal Law, fraud, and deceptive trade practices (proceedings before the DGCCRF) |
