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Winery, Distillery settle lawsuit over "Grand Traverse" name

MAY 27 -- Chateau Grand Traverse and Grand Traverse Distillery have settled their year-old lawsuit over the words "Grand Traverse".

Grand Traverse Distillery, which markets vodka under the brand name True North, will retain the right to use "Grand Traverse" in its business name. The winery had filed suit to prevent the distillery from using the words.

Other specifics of the settlement were not released.

George Workman, general manager of Grand Traverse Distillery, confirmed that both producers agreed to "work cooperatively together in the future." He declined to provide details of that cooperation, although he affirmed that it "could lead to" joint marketing.

Chateau Grand Traverse first planted vines on Old Mission Peninsula in 1974, and is currently Michigan's third-largest wine producer, noted primarily for Riesling.

Grand Traverse Distillery, based in Traverse City, began business in 2007.

Chateau Grand Traverse sued Grand Traverse Distillery in 2008, citing infringement of its "Grand Traverse" trademark. In a counterclaim, Grand Traverse Distillery said that the wording described a commonly used geographic term that could not be exclusively trademarked. It also filed to invalidate the trademarks owned by Chateau Grand Traverse.

A similar case between two Michigan wineries was decided in 2007 by the US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled that Chateau de Leelanau did not violate the trademark of Leelanau Cellars because it was unlikely that customers would confuse the two businesses.

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