Wine names: trademarks and AVA's

[anna]

Hello all!

I'm writing a law journal article (meaning: sleep inducing article!) about the clash between trademarked wine names and geographic designations/AVAs. For example, can/should Beringer be able to use its mark "Napa Ridge" even though not all of its grapes come from Napa County? Should we use the "who came first" argument (e.g. if you adopt a geographic name as your brand name, you do so at your own risk; but if you make up a name that is *later* used as the name of a geographic place, your prior use of the brand name prevails?).

I know that this has sparked a lively discussion elsewhere, but I'm interested in more in-depth comments and opinions from this group. After doing some preliminary research and talking this over with my colleagues, I've found it to be more complicated than at first glance, especially since the Trademark Office and the BATF are two separate governmental entities.

Anyway, now that I've made your heads hurt...I look forward to reading any comments/opinions you have. Thank you!

Anna