Champagne Loses Court Battle With 'Champin' Soft Drink

Only sparkling wines from the Champagne region of France can technically be called "Champagne," and the Champagne industry is very protective of that designation. That's why the Champagne industry attempted to sue a Spanish company making a fizzy, non-alcoholic children's beverage called "Champin," which the industry said could cause confusion and mislead people into thinking that Champin was actually Champagne.

According to The Local, Spain's supreme court just threw out the suit, saying that Champin was no threat to Champagne's brand identity, and that nobody would really think the Champin bottles–which are covered in pictures of clowns and sell for less than three euros in grocery stores–contained Champagne.

"In this case the product Champín differs enough with respect to those products protected by the Champagne appellation, that the phonetic similarity does not evoke the product," the ruling stated.

Champin is a strawberry-flavored soda that's sold in a bottle that does look like a Champagne bottle, but it has a big clown on the label and says in multiple places that it contains no alcohol.