The Hangzhou Arbitration Commission has ruled in favor of Wahaha Group in its trademark dispute with Groupe Danone, the Caijing magazine reported, citing sources close to the matter.

It said the ruling cited a technicality in Danone's filing, which failed to meet a deadline.

As a result, the "Wahaha" brand was ruled to belong to the Chinese company and barred Danone from seeking rights to the trademark, which it used in joint ventures with Wahaha, a leading Chinese beverage company.

A Danone spokesman told Caijing it has yet to receive the ruling.

The report said Danone and Wahaha have also filed arbitration applications with the International Arbitration Commission in Sweden and the case will be heard in mid-December.

The two partners are in legal proceedings because Danone claimed that Wahaha was undermining its joint venture agreement by producing items identical to the joint venture's products and selling them outside the agreed channels. Wahaha in turn claimed that Danone was trying to seize control of the Wahaha brand.