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Legal status gives vodka a shot in the arm
19 Jan 2010Vodka joined the ranks of champagne, whisky and sherry today as a name protected by the courts.
Diageo, the multinational drinks company whose products include Smirnoff vodka, took action in the High Court after rivals started producing cheaper, less alcoholic drinks such as Vodkat.
Mr Justice Arnold ruled today that any brand name derived from vodka but was not vodka was likely to confuse the public.
He introduced his judgment by saying the case was the latest in a line stretching back nearly 50 years where manufacturers have sought to protect their products from rivals "passing off" goods as the real thing.
"In this case the court is required for the fist time to decide whether a producer of vodka has the same rights as a producer of champagne, sherry, advocaat, whisky or Swiss chocolate."
He said Smirnoff had been sold in the UK since the 1950s and was the best selling brand.
The defendants, Intercontinental Brands(ICB), introduced their successful Vodkat in 2005.
The judge said the "clear, virtually tasteless alcoholic drink" is not a vodka.
He said the word vodka comes from Russian and the drink is now the best-selling spirit in the UK - totalling in value more than £1.7 billion a year.
Mr Justice Arnold said Vodkat was a mixture of vodka and neutral fermented alcohol with a strength of 22% of alcohol by volume rather than the minimum 37.5% of vodka.
Because of the difference in strength, Vodkat can be sold at a lower price than vodka.
"The evidence clearly establishes that the alcohol-consuming public in the UK, and in particular the vodka-consuming public, have come to regard the term 'vodka' as denoting a particular class of alcoholic beverage."
He said they may not know what it is or where it is made but use the term to distinguish it from other spirits.
"I have no hesitation in concluding that the term 'vodka' does have a reputation giving rise to a protectible goodwill."
He found that the marketing of Vodkat "was calculated to deceive a substantial number of members of the public into believing that the product is vodka".
"I consider that it is clear that ICB's marketing of Vodkat is likely to erode the distinctiveness of the term 'vodka'. It will cease to be a term reserved for 37.5% ABV spirits, and will come to be seen as a term applicable to lower strength products which include fermented alcohol."
He ruled that ICB had passed off Vodkat as vodka.
