It's exactly the same bottled water with healthy and energetic-looking pop star Wang Lee-Hom as the endorser.

But the water, under the Wahaha brand name, has hit turbulent times as it is now part of a bitter dispute over ownership of the well-known brand.

French food giant Groupe Danone SA said yesterday it filed a counterclaim with an arbitrator in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, rejecting statements made by its Chinese joint venture partner Wahaha Group in a trademark dispute.

Danone's latest legal action comes in response to Wahaha Group's request last month for arbitration in Hangzhou to seek termination of a 1996 trademark transfer agreement it signed with joint venture partner Danone. Wahaha alleged the agreement failed to get approval from China's State trademark office.

Danone and Wahaha have exchanged lawsuits and arbitration claims in three nations in recent months, with both sides employing teams of lawyers in an increasingly contentious dispute that has cast a dark cloud over the once-successful Sino-foreign commercial partnership.

"Danone believes the arbitration application of Wahaha is intended to achieve its ultimate purpose of not transferring its trademarks by making excuses," Danone legal counsel Randall Lewis said at a press conference yesterday.

He said the actions of Wahaha violate the 1996 agreement, and deviate from the fundamental principles of good faith and business ethics.

The breach of the joint venture agreement has caused substantial economic losses to it, he said.

Danone said the joint venture paid 50 million yuan in cash to Wahaha for the transfer of the trademark, which was approved by the Hangzhou government.

(China Daily July 13, 2007)