Protected geographical indications in the European Union

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
There are very few or no other articles that link to this one.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. After links have been created, remove this message.
This article has been tagged since November 2006.

The law of protected geographical indications in the European Union governs the use of certain descriptions in relation to food, agricultural products, spirits, aromatized drinks and wines. In particular, the use of certain terms which indicate the geographical origin of the product, known as geographical indications in international intellectual property law, is restricted in a similar way to trade marks. This protection forms part of the common agricultural policy of the European Union.

The general regime governs the use of protected designations of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indications (PGI) for food and certain other agricultural products. There are separate regimes for spirits and for aromatized drinks (geographical designations) as well as for wines (geographical indications, often referred to as appellations). The origin of the product is only one of the criteria for use of the protected terms: the product must also meet various quality criteria. The label "Traditional speciality guaranteed" (TSG) is a similar protected term which does not impose any restrictions on the geographical origin of the product.

Contents

[edit] Objectives of the protection

As with other intellectual property rights, the use of geographical indications is intended to increase the income of rightholders. The preambles to the Regulations cite consumer demand for quality foodstuffs and identify a number of goals for the protection regimes:

  • the promotion of products with specific characteristics, particularly those coming from less-favoured or rural areas;
  • the improvement of the income of farmers, in return for a "genuine effort to improve quality";
  • the retention of population in rural areas;
  • the provision of clear and succinct information to consumers regarding product origin.

The provision of a recompense for efforts to improve quality and the need for consumer protection are often cited as justifications for trade mark protection in other domains, and geographical indications operate in a similar manner to trade marks.

[edit] Protection and enforcement

Only products which meet the various geographical and quality criteria may use the protected indication. It is also prohibited to combine the indication with words such as "style", "type", "imitation" or "method" in connection with the protected indications, or to do anything which might imply that the product meets the specifications (e.g., using distinctive packaging associated with the protected product).

Protected indications are treated as intellectual property rights by the Regulation concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such rights (No 1383/2003),[1] and infringing goods may be seized by customs on import. Within the European Union enforcement measures vary: infringement may be treated as counterfeit, misleading advertising, passing off or even as a question of public health.

[edit] Special regimes

The protection of geographical indications for wines and other alcoholic drinks was historically the first to be developed at both national and Community level. It is also the only protection which is recognised by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), administered by the World Trade Organization, although the European Union is pushing for other geographical indications to be included in the Doha Round of world trade negotiations.

[edit] Wines

European Union rules governing the production of wine ("the product obtained exclusively from the total or partial alcoholic fermentation of fresh grapes, whether or not crushed, or of grape must") are considerably longer than Community trade mark law: the main text, the Regulation on the common organisation of the market in wine (No 1493/1999),[2] runs to over 46,000 words. To be considered as a "quality wine", the wine must come from a specified region and be associated with a "geographical indication" or appellation: indeed, the technical term used in the Regulation is quality wine psr, with the "psr" standing for "produced in a specified region". Wines which do not meet this requirement may only be marketed as table wine.

Despite (or perhaps because of) the traditional importance of appellations for wine, there has been little harmonisation of national provisions within the European Union. Member States delimit the specified areas of production and determine the rules and appellations which apply: the European Commission restricts itself to publishing the information provided by the Member States. Appellations are usually the geographical name of the area in which the wine is produced, although there are some historical exceptions: muscadet and blanquette in France, cava and manzanilla in Spain and vinho verde in Portugal. The appellations are not necessarily unique: Cava may refer either to a quality sparkling wine psr produced in Spain or to a Greek table wine which has been aged (as a transliteration of "Κάβα").

See also: List of geographical indications for wine in the European Union

[edit] Spirits

The Regulation laying down general rules on the definition, description and presentation of spirit drinks (No 1576/89)[3] provides for a double system of protection of spirit descriptions. Spirits are divided into 21 categories, which each have rules for fabrication and minimum strength. Within these categories, certain names are reserved for drinks from particular countries, for example ouzo, which is aniseed-flavoured spirit drink which must have been produced exclusively in Greece or Cyprus, or grappa, which is a grape marc spirit produced in Italy. The Regulation also defines a number of geographical designations, which are reserved for drinks which "aquired their character and definitive qualities" in the area denominated. The exact delimitation of the areas and any other regulations are left to the Member States concerned. By way of derogation, the designations Königsberger Bärenfang and Ostpreußischer Bärenfang are permitted for certain German drinks even though they refer to Königsberg (Kaliningrad) and East Prussia which are no longer part of Germany.

See also: List of geographical designations for spirit drinks in the European Union

[edit] Aromatized drinks

The Regulation laying down general rules on the definition, description and presentation of aromatized wines, aromatized wine-based drinks and aromatized wine-product cocktails (No 1601/92)[4] institutes a system of protected denominations for aromatized drinks which is very similar to that for spirits. The association of general names with specific countries is weaker: a drink labelled simply "Sangria" must have been produced in Spain or Portugal, for example, but it is permissible to label a drink "Sangria produced in the United Kingdom: aromatized wine-based drink" if the drink meets the other requirements to be described as sangria. Similarly, the denomination "Clarea" on its own is reserved for drinks produced in Spain. The protected geographical designations are:

  • Nürnberger Glühwein (Germany)
  • Vermouth de Chambéry (France)
  • Vermouth di Torino (Italy)

[edit] General regime

The protection of geographical indications was extended to foodstuffs and other agricultural products in 1992.[5] Given the widely different national provisions, this "general regime" gives much more power to the European Commission (compared to the special regimes) to ensure a harmonized protection across the European Union. It is currently governed by the Regulation on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (No 510/2006).[6]

Two types of term are covered by the regulation:

  • Protected designation of origin (PDO)
  • Protected geographical indication (PGI)

To qualify for a PDO, the product must have qualities and characteristics which are essentially due to its region of production: it must also be produced, processed and prepared exclusively within that region. The requirement for a PGI are slightly less strict; a good reputation of a product from a given region is sufficient (rather than objectively different characteristics) if any of the steps of production, processing and preparation may take place within the region. Otherwise the protection afforded by the two terms is equivalent.

An application for a PDO or a PGI is first made to the authorities of the relevant Member State. It is judged by the Member State against the criteria in the Regulation and, if found to be acceptable, forwarded to the European Commission for final approval. Applications are published at both the national and Community stages of examination, and third parties can object to proposed PDOs or PGIs which they feel would harm their business. A recurrent objection is that the proposed denomination is a generic term for the product in question: generic names cannot be registered but, once registered, the denominations are protected from genericization. Hence Cheddar cheese was deemed to be a generic name, but the PGI "West Country farmhouse cheddar cheese" was allowed: Feta was deemed not to have become generic, and was registered as a PGI to the disappointment of cheesemakers outside of Greece.

See also: List of protected geographical indications in the European Union (includes protected designations of origin)

[edit] Relationship to trade mark law

In principle, a similar protection to a geographical indication could be obtained through a collective trade mark. Indications which serve exclusively to identify the place of origin of goods are not registrable as trade marks under Art. 6quinquies.B.2 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Convention), which has effect in European Union law by Art. 7 of the Regulation on the Community trade mark (No 40/94)[7] and by Art. 3 of the Directive to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks (89/104/EEC):[8] however marks which also serve to identify the quality of a product originating in a certain region may be registered so long as they have not become generic in the trade concerned. Trade marks which have been registered before the registration of a PDO or a PGI may continue to be used, but the registration of an equivalent trade mark after the approval of a PDO or PGI is impossible (Art. 13, Regulation (EC) No 510/2006). The existence of a trade mark (registered or unregistered) may be a reason to refuse the registration of a PDO or a PGI [Art. 7(3)(c), Regulation (EC) No 510/2006]. Hence the Polish geographical designation "Herbal vodka from the North Podlasie Lowland aromatised with an extract of bison grass" or Wódka ziołowa z Niziny Północnopodlaskiej aromatyzowana ekstraktem z trawy żubrowej, so phrased as to avoid infringing the trade mark "Zubrowka".

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ↑ 
  2. ↑  Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89 of 29 May 1989 laying down general rules on the definition, description and presentation of spirit drinks, OJ no. L160 of 1989-06-12, p. 1, corrected at OJ no. L223 of 1989-08-02, p. 27.
  3. ↑ 
  4. ↑ 
  5. ↑ 
  6. ↑ 
  7. ↑ 

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../p/r/o/Protected_geographical_indications_in_the_European_Union_832b.html"