Treasury Wine Estates is being sued in California over the release of a Halloween edition of 19 Crimes.
The case concerns the 19 Crimes Dracula Red Blend, a limited-edition release from Treasury Wine Estates in October 2023 complete with a glow in the dark label (RRP: US$18). A Frankenstein Cabernet Sauvignon was also released.
But now, according to court documents seen by The Australian, the Dracula-themed bottle has come back to bite the Australian wine giant.
Vampire Vineyards owner Michael Machat, whose background is as a lawyer specialising in the music industry and trademarks, the 19 Crimes Dracula Red Blend was likely to “cause confusion, mistake, and to deceive the public at large”
The prosecution accused Treasury Wine Estates of being “unjustly enriched, among other things, by the receipt of sales revenues from consumers who mistakenly thought that they were purchasing plaintiff’s Dracula or Vampire goods and/or goods sponsored by plaintiff, but instead were purchasing defendants’ goods which are promoted and sold through advertisements that affirmatively misrepresent, either directly or by implication, the nature, characteristics, identity, and source or sponsorship of the goods.”
Machat is demanding at least US$15 from every bottle of 19 Crimes Dracula Red Blend sold in the US and as much as US$36 for each bottle sold in the on-trade. The case is ongoing.
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