THE Scotch whisky industry has declared it has made a major breakthrough in its battle against counterfeit producers in China, after successfully suing a packaging firm in the Anhui province.

Industry body the Scotch Whisky Association said it has won a court action against Anhui Guangyu Packaging Technology Company, which had been manufacturing bottle caps featuring the words Scotch whisky.

The caps were used on bottles of fake Scotch whisky, sold more than 1,000 miles away in Myanmar.

The SWA called on intellectual property rights to sue Guangyu around its use of the words “Scotch whisky”. The industry body, which represents the bulk of Scotland’s Scotch whisky distillers, noted that while Guangyu had defended the action, the Anqing Intermediate People’s Court in eastern China had upheld its complaint.

According to the SWA, the court granted an injunction ordering Guangyu to stop infringement of the “Scotch Whisky” trade mark and pay damages and costs.

Lindesay Low, SWA senior legal counsel, said: “This victory in the Chinese civil court is significant for a number of reasons and should be seen as a legal breakthrough. We are confident this will help deter other potential counterfeiters and fraudsters in China.

“Now that the appeal period has expired and the judgement has become final, we are focussing on enforcing the award of damages."

The Chinese court judgement is the second coup for the SWA this week. On Tuesday it announced that it had secured geographical indication (GI) status for Scotch in the 17 member countries of the Organisation Africaine de la Propriete Intellectual (OAPI).

The registration is seen as a major boost for distillers looking to drive sales in the emerging African market as it gives the industry legal clout in its battle against counterfeit Scotch in the territories.