When you are grocery shopping and see products carrying names like Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, Kölsch, or Figatellu de l'Ile de Beauté, you will immediately connect such foods to certain regions and, therefore, a specific geographic origin.
The name that reflects such a connection between products and territories can be protected under intellectual property (IP) law. Geographical indications (GIs) are a form of IP that does precisely that: by indicating that a product – e.g., a certain food, wine or spirit drink – has a specific geographical origin, a GI protects the reputation and/or qualities of that product as stemming from specific production and manufacturing standards and its place of origin.
GIs, however, do more than this: studies indicate that GI-industries support nearly 400 000 jobs across the EU, and contribute over EUR 20 billion to the European Union (EU)’s GDP. Furthermore, GIs play an increasingly key role in trade negotiations between the EU and third countries.
Over time, IP law has been consistently tasked with ensuring protection of trade names and distinctive signs associated with certain territories. That has occurred at the national, international and regional levels alike. Insofar as the latter is concerned, the framework developed in the EU is indeed a substantial one: besides a robust and well-developed framework to protect names of agricultural products and foodstuffs, spirit drinks, and wines against a wide range of conducts such as use, imitation or evocation of the indication for products not complying with the product specification and against a wide range of practices that may mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product, the EU recently published a regulation for GI protection of the names of craft and industrial products, thus extending the well-established GI protection to other products within the EU.
And now that the Parliament has given the final go ahead to the reform that further strengthens protections for GIs for products such as wine, spirits and agricultural products, the next steps involve the Council’s review. Once the Council formally adopts the regulation, it will then be published in the EU Official Journal. After a period of 20 days, it will then enter into force.
The EU GI system for agricultural products (‘agri-GIs')
The European Commission is in charge of granting registrations of agri-GIs. Non-EU producers must send their applications directly (or via their national authorities) to the European Commission, while EU producers’ applications are sent to national authorities for scrutiny and then forwarded to the European Commission to ensure that there are no manifest errors and that EU law and the interests of stakeholders outside the Member State of application are taken into account (Regulation No 1151/2012).
Thanks to the joint efforts of the EUIPO and the European Commission, today it is possible to view all agri-GIs registered in Europe and beyond using GIview. Launched in 2020, GIview is regarded as the most complete and reliable GI database worldwide.
Why register a GI?
There are several advantages stemming from the successful registration of a GI.
First of all, GIs protect against third-party misappropriations of names of products connected to specific territories and reputation. Protection under EU law has also been expansively interpreted in case law too: GI beneficiaries can prevent not only actual uses or imitations of the registered GI, but also attempts to ‘evoke’ such a GI. For example, in a well-known case, the EU Court of Justice ruled that evocation of a GI (Queso Manchego) may also occur using figurative signs commonly associated with that region (including using the name of Don Quixote’s horse and the image of a horse and windmill).
Second, and equally important, GIs are considered tools that ensure that local production is economically viable. In turn, they help strengthen the links between a product and other local activities such as cultural activities, tourism, and art, as well as supporting broader societal goals like sustainability.
The future ahead
The future of GIs in the EU looks promising and varied.
As stated, the EU GI system reform has now reached its finish line. All this also implies that the EUIPO will be playing an even more significant role in the GI system, as it will be in charge of examining and granting EU-wide GI registrations for craft and industrial products.
Another key development is the recent launch of the GI Hub, which went live several days after publication of the new GI Regulation. The EUIPO’s GI Hub has been developed as a go-to area for information on GIs. It is aimed at everyone, from entrepreneurs with no knowledge of GIs to GI beneficiaries, and includes FAQs, articles and anything you ever wanted to know about GIs. Furthermore, the hub is visually appealing, easy-to-use and provides high-level content and links to both GIs for craft and industrial products and agri-GIs.2024 marks a significant milestone in the intellectual property landscape as we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the European Union Trade Mark (EUTM), initially known as the Community Trade Mark (CTM). Entered into force on 15 March 1994, the EUTM regulation revolutionised the way businesses protect their brands across the (now) 27 Member States. As the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) anticipates reaching 3 million trade mark applications by the year's end, we reflect on the journey of trade marks from historical symbols to modern brand protectors.
This article was first published in Alicante News, the newsletter sent by the EUIPO.