Steptoe Victorious in Trademark Case for Trek Winery

The San Francisco Chronicle featured Steptoe’s win for Trek Winery in an article titled “Wisconsin Bike Trek Sues Marin Wine Trek.” Trek Bicycle Corporation—one of the nation’s largest bicycle product manufacturers—brought a trademark infringement suit in Wisconsin against Steptoe clients Trek Winery and its owner Andrew Podshadley. Though Trek Winery produces little more than 2,000 cases annually, the Podshadleys have won several awards for their wines, including gold medals for the Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah wines in the 2009 Harvest Fair Sonoma County Competition and medals in the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition and from the San Francisco Chronicle. The court dismissed the case against Trek Winery, stating that Trek Bicycle could not “argue seriously that three isolated sales show that defendants have made such purposeful availment of the benefits of Wisconsin’s law that they could reasonably anticipate being hauled into court in this state.”

Please click here to read the article.

Click here for the Wisconsin Law Journal article titled "Trek Bicycle can’t sue Trek Winery in Wisconsin."

Wines & Vines magazine also published an article on the case, titled “Tiny Winery Defeats Big Bike Co.” Please click here for the full text.