After the failure of the trademark application for "National Liquor Moutai", Kweichow Moutai has given up the use of "National Liquor". Currently, "Moutai, the national liquor" on product packaging and dealer stores is being replaced by "Kweichow Moutai." However, Kweichow Moutai is still "concerned" about the "national prefix" trademark. As early as October 11, 2002, China Kweichow Moutai Distillery (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Moutai Group") applied to register the "Moutai State Banquet" "Trademark (No. 3333017).
However, in May 2003, this application was rejected. After that, Moutai Group was not willing to give in and started the review process. Information from the China Trademark Network shows that until 2016, the Trademark Review and Adjudication Committee of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce made 2 rejection reviews and 5 rejection reviews for this trademark. In 2016, Moutai Group sued the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. After nearly three years of trial, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court made a judgment rejecting the Moutai Group’s lawsuit. Recently, the Beijing Court Trial Information Network published the first-instance judgment.
The reason why the "Moutai State Banquet" trademark has not been registered is simple. It violates Article 10, Paragraph 1, Items (7) and (8) of the Trademark Law: "It is deceptive. ", which is likely to cause the public to misunderstand the quality and other characteristics of the goods or the place of origin" signs shall not be used as trademarks; those that are harmful to socialist morals or have other adverse effects. Place names of administrative divisions at or above the county level or foreign place names known to the public shall not be used as trademarks.
The judgment shows that in response to the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board’s review decision not to register, Moutai Group sued, saying: “Maotai” wine has been displayed on important historical stages as a state banquet wine many times. The trademark in dispute is a trademark that the plaintiff applied for registration specifically for the Moutai liquor provided at the state banquet. Its use on alcoholic liquids and other products will not cause the relevant public to misunderstand the quality, quality and other characteristics of the products, nor will it have any adverse effects.
To this end, Moutai Group submitted multiple pieces of evidence proving that Moutai liquor was used as a state banquet wine, including many photos of Moutai liquor included in the "History and Paintings of National Liquor Moutai" published by China Commercial Press. Photos of Moutai being used as the wine for the state banquet, as well as the video "Extraordinary Memory of the State Banquet" broadcast by the Science and Education Channel of Beijing TV Station on July 1, 2013, mentioned the incident of Moutai being used as the wine for the state banquet. However, these did not convince the court. The court also believed that the "Moutai State Banquet" trademark violated the provisions of Article 10, Paragraph 1, Items (7) and (8) of the Trademark Law.