Groupe Danone said it has filed a counterclaim with the Hangzhou Arbitration Commission, charging that its joint venture partner, Chinese beverage maker Hangzhou Wahaha Group, failed to meet commitments to transfer product trademarks to the joint venture.

"The Wahaha JV (joint venture) company has recently filed a statement of counterclaim to Hangzhou Arbitration Commision through its arbitration agents, the attorneys of Shanghai-based Shenda partners," Randall Lewis, a lawyer for Danone, told reporters.

Danone alleges the trademarks, which had been appraised as having a value of 100 million yuan, should have been transferred to the joint venture with Wahaha under an agreement reached in 1996.

Danone representatives said that the company's Chinese partner never made the transfer though it insisted that the trademark office was handling the application for transfer.

Danone said Wahaha has already filed a claim to the arbitration commission over the disputed transfer of trademarks.

The arbitration filings are the latest twist in a bitter dispute between the French food company and China's Wahaha.

Danone has filed a lawsuit in the US alleging Wahaha had set up 20 independent companies to sell products identical to those produced by the joint venture.

Wahaha has said it will sue Danone for up to 5 billion euroes for what it charges are illegal activities. It recently brought suit in a Chinese court against a director of the joint venture with Danone, accusing him of illegally serving on the boards of rival companies. 

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