Chapoutier threatens lawsuit against Chinese company

Michel Chapoutier is to bring a lawsuit against a Chinese clothing line that has been using his name.

The “abuse of the name” was discovered by Chapoutier’s daughter, Mathilde, who is currently studying in China.

Shopping for clothes on the internet, Mathilde apparently came across the site and immediately told her father.

In a statement released by the estate, it is explained: “The house of M. Chapoutier has become the object of a most particular counterfeiting.

“It does not concern false bottles of wine, the price of which has been inflated by 100 points from critic Robert Parker.”

The statement then explains the discovery and the link to a clothing line before continuing: “The problem is that there has never been an agreement between this clothes maker and the house of M. Chapoutier and it is, therefore, an abuse of trademark of the most admired French wine in the world (study Drinks International – May 2012: brackets in original).

“The house of M. Chapoutier has decided to consult its lawyers to commence legal proceedings.”

This is not the first court case that Chapoutier has become embroiled in. In May of this year Chapoutier announced he was taking legal advice against the Nomblot group for, allegedly, stealing his idea for concrete fermentation eggs.

His pending case is not without precedent. In April this year, the Richemont group won a trademark case against a Russian company that was using two of the group’s luxury watch brands, Jaeger-Lecroute and Vacheron Constantin, to sell clothes.

The Chinese clothing website in question can be found here.