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Pick a Number, Any Number: State Representation in Congress After the 2000 Census |
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Paul H. Edelman & Suzanna Sherry |
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| Geographical indications of origin are important tools for consumer protection and product differentiation in the wine industry. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (“ATF”) regulates their use on American wine labels. However, geographic terms also may appear on American wine labels in several other contexts, including as brand names, winery addresses, wine types, or even as grape variety names. These geographic terms often conflict with a wine’s geographical indication of agricultural origin. This Comment examines the core purposes of ATF’s wine-labeling regulatory scheme and compares these purposes to the similar purposes of trademark law. Applying consumer confusion and dilution analyses of trademark law to wine label content, this Comment argues that significant inconsistencies in ATF’s regulation of geographic terms undermine its ability to serve its core regulatory purposes. These “nonconformities” in ATF’s overall zoning scheme for the use of product descriptors on wine labels have produced a great deal of industry debate in recent years, as well as much political and legal maneuvering, yet the wine industry appears incapable of reaching consensus on a resolution to these issues. This Comment sets forth a comprehensive reform proposal that borrows the most promising aspects of existing reform proposals while incorporating a solution often applied in the zoning context: a phase-out of nonconforming uses over a reasonable amortization period. This comprehensive proposal would provide a meaningful and necessary resolution to the current conflict, while respecting both constitutional and commercial prerogatives. | |
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Copyright
© 2002 by California Law Review, Inc. |
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