Prosecco Celebrates A Non-alcoholic Win

In January 2018, Les Grands Chais De France (“Les Grands”) filed a Madrid Protocol application to register their product label as a trade mark in countries including the United Kingdom. The product name “NOSECCO” is central to the mark as applied for, with the application covering ‘non-alcoholic wines; non-alcoholic sparkling wines' in class 32.

The UK designation was opposed by the Consorzio di Tutela della Denominazione di Origine Controllata Prosecco (the Consorzio), established to protect and promote the use of the name “Prosecco”, which is a protected designation of origin ("PDO") in the EU. As a PDO, use of the word Prosecco is reserved for wines that meet certain conditions, including that the wine is made from a specific grape, region, and cultivation method.