Judge finds that Wine School of Philadelphia has also been known as the “Philly Wine School” as early as 2005
May 28, 2026 (Philadelphia) — A federal judge has denied an emergency legal effort to force the Wine School of Philadelphia to stop using the name “Philly Wine School,” a name the court found has been publicly associated with the school since at least 2005.
Judge Joshua D. Wolson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued the 36-page ruling on May 26, 2026, denying a motion for preliminary injunction filed by PhillyWine LLC, a local provider of Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) courses.
The Wine School of Philadelphia operates within the National Wine School network for sommelier and winemaking schools. It was founded in 2001 by Keith Wallace and has operated from a permanent location at 109 South 22nd Street in Philadelphia since 2015. The school operates independently of the WSET provider system, offering public wine classes, sommelier certification programs, and winemaking programs.
What the court found
The court’s ruling turns on a key fact: one school has been publicly known as “Philly Wine School” for nearly twenty years; PhillyWine LLC began using the phrase only recently and sporadically as a direct consumer-facing brand.
Judge Wolson found that media coverage referred to the Wine School of Philadelphia as “Philly Wine School” since at least 2005. The Wine School holds a federal trademark registration for the phrase, issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in December 2025, following a finding of acquired distinctiveness.
PhillyWine LLC, by contrast, operated for most of its history under the name “Neal Ewing Wine Services.” PhillyWine LLC admitted in court filings that it “did not regularly use ‘Philly Wine School,'” a concession Judge Wolson found “difficult to reconcile” with its claim of longstanding market recognition. The court found that the phrase appeared more directly in PhillyWine LLC’s branding only in 2024 and 2025.
The judge was direct: at best, PhillyWine LLC had shown “sporadic” use of the phrase “until the last couple of years,” while the Wine School of Philadelphia had used it for close to a decade in its own promotional materials and had been known by it in the broader marketplace for nearly twenty.
Background
PhillyWine filed the federal lawsuit in February 2026 after the Wine School of Philadelphia, following federal trademark registration, submitted complaints to Instagram, Google, and Squarespace, asserting that PhillyWine LLC’s use of “Philly Wine School” in its branding infringed the registered mark. This resulted in the suspension of PhillyWine LLC’s @phillywineschool Instagram account.
Judge Wolson addressed the Wine School of Philadelphia’s trademark enforcement actions, characterizing the school’s conduct as an effort “to assert and resolve competing claims rather than to create confusion.”
The court also noted that Wallace offered to restore the PhillyWine LLC Instagram account if it agreed to stop using the infringing handle, further evidence of good-faith enforcement rather than predatory intent.
The court’s opinion drew a pointed contrast between the two schools’ physical presence. It noted that the Wine School of Philadelphia has been anchored at a single, consistent location, while PhillyWine LLC and its predecessor had historically operated from rotating venues.
PhillyWine LLC immediately sought emergency relief to halt the Wine School of Philadelphia’s use of the phrase ‘Philly Wine School’ entirely. The court rejected that request.
Statement from Keith Wallace, Founder, Wine School of Philadelphia
“We feel vindicated by this ruling. For months, we have said that this dispute should be decided on evidence, not accusations. The court has now rejected the attempt to stop us from using a name by which students, media, and the public have known us for many years. We are continuing to teach, our sommelier classes are continuing, and we remain focused on our amazing students.”
About the Wine School of Philadelphia
The Wine School of Philadelphia is an independent wine education institution founded in 2001. It offers wine classes and wine certification programs at its permanent home at 109 South 22nd Street in Philadelphia. Through the National Wine School network, it also supports independent sommelier and winemaking education outside the WSET provider model. The school was recently named one of the top trade schools in the region by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
