On February 11, 2016, TTB issued Ruling 2016-1 titled “The Shelf Plan and Shelf Schematic Exception to the ‘Tied House’ Prohibition, and Activities Outside Such Exception.” The ruling concerns promotional activities commonly associated with category management programs and looked at such practices with respect to the federal tied house laws. The agency…
Category: Federal Law
TTB Administratively Approves New Grape Variety Coda di Volpe
Very much in line with one of On Reserve’s recent posts, The Importance of Grape Varieties on American Wine Labels, TTB announced last week that it administratively approved a new grape variety for use on American wine labels. The new grape variety, Coda di Volpe, can be used on American wine labels…
TTB Establishes New AVA Lamorinda Viticultural Area
On Wednesday, February 24th, TTB issued a final rule in the Federal Register establishing a new American Viticultural Area (AVA) called Lamorinda Viticultural Area. The new AVA contains 29,369 acres in Contra Costa County, California and is entirely within the established (and larger) San Francisco Bay and Central Coast AVAs. The original petition was submitted…
Proposed Willcox Viticultural Area and Establishment of The Los Olivos District Viticultural Area
On January 21, 2016, TTB published a notice in the Federal Register proposing the establishment of the Willcox Viticultural Area, which is located in portions of Graham and Cochise Counties in Arizona (but is not currently located within, nor does it contain, any other established American Viticultural Area). The proposed Viticultural Area…
The Importance of Grape Varieties on American Wine Labels
Using a grape variety on an American wine label is not mandatory, but many winemakers choose to do so for several reasons, such as perception of quality to the consumer. Using or naming the variety on the wine label may also convey a better story about what is in the…
TTB Reopens the Comment Period for Proposed Viticultural Area and a Realignment
On October 26th, TTB released a press release stating the agency planned to public a notice in the Federal Register the following day which would reopen the comment period for the proposed Lewis-Clark Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), which is comprised of 306,650-acres found in locations including Nez Perce, Lewis,…
TTB Makes Small Change to COLA Process
In an industry circular dated October 2, 2015, the TTB announced that it made a minor administrative change—and perhaps a very welcome update—to the label approval process. TTB will no longer return label applications to fix discrepancies between what appears on the label and what is stated on the application itself with…
Recent Publication: Label Lawsuit Lessons
The November/December 2015 issue of Vineyard & Winery Management magazine features one of my most recent articles, Label Lawsuit Lessons. The article details the implications the 2014 Supreme Court case POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co. may have on the wine industry. Specifically, the article looks at the idea that a COLA may simply be…
TTB Revises Regulation Regarding Excise Taxes and Return of Wine to Bonded Premises
On Tuesday, September 15, 2015, TTB published a rule in the Federal Register detailing the agency’s revision of wine regulations that govern the return of wine to bonded premises. See Return of Wine to Bonded Premises. The final rule was issued without prior notice and comment. The new rule is summarized below: TTB’s…
TTAB Allows Trademark Registration of French Town Montussan
In a recent TTAB opinion, the Board reversed a prior decision of an Examining Attorney who refused to register a mark alluding to a French town Montussan. See In re Montussan Apertifs SAS, Serial No. 86172886 (August 12, 2015) [not precedential]. Applicant (Montussan Apertifs SAS) originally filed an application to register the…