Geographical indication
[3] Under "Champagnerparagraph [de]" of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forbidden from using allied geographical indications on products, which in particular affected the German "cognac" and "champagne" industries, as the French considered the terms misleading references to places in France.
[1]: 40 The primary examples of geographical indications include agricultural products and wines and spirits, such as Champagne, Colombian coffee, Feta cheese, or Longjing tea.
Leveraging its extensive experience in administering agricultural GIs, the EUIPO is well-prepared to assume competency over geographical indications for craft and industrial products.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) is the body responsible for the management of this EU GI scheme.
Trademarks help consumers associate a good or service with a specific quality or reputation, based on information about the company responsible for producing or offering it.
[2] Geographical indications are generally applied to traditional products, produced by rural, marginal or indigenous communities over generations, that have gained a reputation on the local, national or international markets due to their specific unique qualities.
Most importantly, as the reputation spreads beyond borders and demand grows, investment may be directed to the sustainability of the environment where these products originate and are produced.
In the International Trade Centre's "Guide to Geographical Indications: Linking Products and their Origins", authors Daniele Giovannucci, Professor Tim Josling, William Kerr, Bernard O'Connor and May T. Yeung clearly assert that geographical indications are by no means a panacea for the difficulties of rural development.
They can however offer a comprehensive framework for rural development, since they can positively encompass issues of economic competitiveness, stakeholder equity, environmental stewardship, and socio-cultural value.
[7] Inter alia, the European Union has established distinct legislation to protect geographical names in the fields of wines, spirits, agricultural products including beer.
A register for protected geographical indications and denominations of origin relating to products in the field of agriculture including beer, but excluding mineral water, was established (DOOR).
In November 2020, the European Union Intellectual Property Office launched the comprehensive database GI View covering food, wine, and spirit GIs.
The first attempts to do so were found in the Paris Convention on trademarks (1883, still in force, 176 members), followed by a much more elaborate provision in the 1958 Lisbon Agreement on the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their Registration.
According to WIPO World Intellectual Property Indicators 2023, with data received from 91 national and regional authorities, there were an estimated 58400 protected GI in existence in 2022.
[10] The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ("TRIPS") defines "geographical indications" as indications that identify a good as "originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin.
For example, Members are not obliged to bring a geographical indication under protection where it has become a generic term for describing the product in question.
Measures to implement these provisions should not prejudice prior trademark rights that have been acquired in good faith; and, under certain circumstances — including long-established use — continued use of a geographical indication for wines or spirits may be allowed on a scale and nature as before.
This is a controversial proposal, however, that is opposed by other governments including the United States who question the need to extend the stronger protection of Article 23 to other products.
They are concerned that Article 23 protection is greater than required, in most cases, to deliver the consumer benefit that is the fundamental objective of GIs laws.
One reason for the conflicts that occur between European and United States governments is a difference in philosophy as to what constitutes a "genuine" product.
Historically, European immigrants to countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand brought production of place-name related items to their new homes.
[12] The US generally opposes EU-style geographical indication regulation because place names have either already been registered as trademarks or lost their distinctiveness through generic use.
Conversely, some European products have adopted a more American system: a prime example is Newcastle Brown Ale, which received an EU protected geographical status in 2000.
