Duckhorn files lawsuit over Duck Dynasty wines

(PD) - Duckhorn Wine Company has a history of going after wineries that dare to use a duck in their names or labels.

But this time, the winery is hunting a potentially tougher target: the self-professed “redneck royalty” of the hit A&E TV show “Duck Dynasty.”

The Napa Valley winery is going after the Duck Dynasty folks because they’ve used the word “Duck” and an image of a duck on their wines.

That’s right: the reality TV stars with the motto “Faith, Family and Facial Hair” who made their fortune selling duck hunting gear have launched a wine brand, called “Duck Commander.”

In November, the Robertson family of Duck Dynasty fame collaborated with Trinchero Family Estates to produce three wines from California grapes: Triple Threat red blend, Wood Duck chardonnay and Miss Priss pink moscato.

“We decided to create Duck Commander Robertson Family Wines because we know that many of our customers and our viewers choose to celebrate family moments with wine,” Duck Commander CEO Willie Robertson said at the time.

Then the bearded, brawny men became the latest in a string of targets for Duckhorn Wine Company. The St. Helena winery, which produces wines that largely sell for $50 and up, has taken on a number of what it deems to be trademark violators in recent years, although not always successfully.

“It turns out that Duckhorn doesn’t own the word ‘duck,’” said Jay Behmke, an intellectual property attorney at Santa Rosa law firm Carle, Mackie, Power & Ross. “I know that Duckhorn has an interest in trademarks, and I’ve seen their interest, but there are a lot of duck trademarks, so they don’t have an exclusive on that.”