European largest wine producer baffled by its Chinese trademark

Having played in Chinese market for about 13 years, CASTEL, headquartered in France and the Europe's largest wine producer, finally stated its Chinese brand marketing strategy---to expand its wine landscape in China.

Though CASTEL and ChangYu once joined forces and created Chateau Changyu-Castel, “卡斯特” (Chinese transliteration of Castel) has been registered by another company.

Senior managers of CASTEL in China claimed it had successfully registered "CASTEL" trademark in China. However, Bi Duwei, General Manager of Shanghai Office of CASTEL in China, reaffirmed that “卡斯特” trademark was actually owned by a company from Wenzhou City. The company is suing CASTEL and its Chinese agent for infringing its trademark and claims a compensation of 210 million yuan.

The case is still under investigation.