Argentina: Trademarks And Wines For Export - Preliminary Injunction Accepted

The Federal Court of Appeals confirmed the ruling that had accepted the preliminary injunction filed by the plaintiff, authorizing same to continue exporting.

Tribunal I of the Federal Court of Appeals for Civil and Commercial Matters of Buenos Aires in re: "Trivento Bodegas y Viñedos SA vs Austi, Marcelo E." confirmed the lower court's ruling that had accepted the preliminary injunction filed by the plaintiff and authorized said party to continue exporting wines with the trademark PAMPAS DEL SUR as it had been doing before the defendant blocked Trivento's exports at Customs.

Trivento requested the preliminary injunction within the context of a cancellation action initiated by that party to have the trademark PAMPAS DEL SUR, Registration No. 2154545, in international class 33, in the name of the defendant, declared null and void. The plaintiff also sought to recover the damages that occurred as a result of the blockage on exports.

The First Instance judge admitted the preliminary measure. The defendant appealed and the Court of Appeals confirmed the lower court's decision taking into account that the injunction did not affect the commercialization of products in Argentina where the defendant obtained his trademark registration.

The Court also considered that Trivento's export of PAMPAS DEL SUR wines, since 2002 and to different countries, was not a controversial issue. The same applied to Trivento's registrations abroad which, in same cases, had been registered before 2004, date on which the defendant filed PAMPAS DEL SUR in Argentina.

In view of the above and considering that the plaintiff did not commercialize products with the trademark PAMPAS DEL SUR in the local market and that the defendant did not export, the Court found no reasons for Trivento to interrupt the export of PAMPAS DEL SUR wines during the course of the cancellation action.

The periculum in mora was evident to the Court since Customs had blocked the plaintiff's export. Finally, the Court considered that the authorization for the plaintiff to continue exporting did not affect the defendant's activities since the defendant was not able to prove ownership of the trademark PAMPAS DEL SUR in those countries where Trivento exported. The defendant's exports to those same countries were not proved either.

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