When two permittees using the same trade name are located in different states, this problem will not arise. County Clerks and Secretary of State offices make no effort to keep track of name registrations outside their jurisdiction. TTB keeps a list of trade names used in the industry nationwide, and will inform permittees if a desired name is already in use elsewhere, but they will allow permittees in different states to use the same trade name without any permission or agreement. This policy is rooted in the presumption that most wineries are small operations that distribute in their local area only--a presumption that may still be statistically true, but is changing fast in today's internet-connected world. Of course, a small winery does not want to be bothered about it if another tiny operator, somewhere far away, uses a similar name in its own local trading area. But wineries planning to market a product line nationally may be well-advised to go back to the drawing board if another winery is already using their chosen name.

To be absolutely certain that you aren't treading on someone else's trade name before investing in a new image, we highly recommend conducting a name search of COLA records, trademark records, and common law name usage (trade directories, internet searches, etc.). You can hire a service to do part or all of these searches for you.

Wholesalers need to take extra care with trade names

Wholesalers and growers who are developing proprietary brands often run into problems with "their" bottling trade name, since the wineries who bottle for them must each add the trade name to their winery permits. If the initial trade name addition is done improperly--whether inadvertently or intentionally--it can make a name appear as if it belongs to the bottling winery, not the brand owner. Later, when the owner seeks to add the trade name to their own permit or to another's winery's permit for a subsequent bottling, they are unpleasantly surprised to find that they need the first winery's "permission" to use the name. Normally a simple letter from the first winery acknowledging the wholesaler's ownership of the name will solve the problem--assuming the prior registrant is cooperative.

Negociants and wholesalers developing their own brand should be careful to protect their rights to their chosen name. Being first to register the name with a state or local agency is recommended, and adding the name to their own basic permit, if any, before any wineries use the name is also wise.

And now, there's an added incentive to do so: To help keep the ownership of names clearer and streamline the procedures for everyone, TTB has decided that as long as one permittee has registered a trade name, it may grant permission to other permit holders to use the name without any additional state or local trade name filing by the other permittees.

Streamlined procedures for multiple users of the same name

In the old days, every winery that wished to use a name had to do its own local registration first in accordance with state or county requirements. Now, if a brand owner has wine bottled by multiple wineries, only the entity who owns the name needs to register the name. Once the brand owner has added the name to its permit, all the bottling wineries can add the name to their permit, for the account of the name's owner, by simply submitting a letter of permission from the name owner and a statement that the name owner has previously registered the name in the state where the bottling will be done.

This new procedure greatly simplifies the process for the bottling wineries and keeps the ownership of the name in TTB's records very clear. The advantages of the system are so great, that it is well worth the extra effort for a brand owner to register its trade name(s) in every state where it has its product bottled, rather than relying on the bottling wineries to do it properly. If the brand owner is located out of state, they can do a local or state registration at the bottling winery's address to fulfill the requirement for registering the name in the winery's state.

Other ways to protect your promotional investment in your name

Many in our industry continue to feel a false sense of security after they've registered a trade name or added it to a federal permit. Trade name registration laws do not guarantee that you "own" the registered name, nor protect you from someone else using it. The purpose of trade name registration is merely to provide public notice of the person or company who is using the trade name. Similarly, while adding a trade name to a basic permit allows the issuance of federal label approvals and gives notice that a particular winery is using the trade name, adding a trade name to a basic permit does not establish ownership of, or protect, a trade name.

In fact, TTB will allow other wineries to use your trade name without permission or question, as long as they are in different states. And, if challenged about conflicting claims to the same name in the same state, TTB refuses to take sides. The agency refers to the conflict as a "civil matter," meaning it is left to the parties and the courts to decide who owns the name. Until the dispute is sorted out, TTB may be hesitant to allow the name to be added to additional permits--potentially causing unforeseen delays in bottling and marketing plans.