On 26 March 2024, the European Council adopted a new regulation on geographical indicators (“GI”) for agricultural products, wines, and spirits.

Geographical indicators, sometimes also known as “protected designations of origin” confer rights that are not dissimilar to ordinary trade mark rights in the name of a place or region as it related to and insamuch as it is associated with the production of a particular product. Famous examples include “Parmigiano Reggiano (aka “Parmesan”) for cheese, or Champagne for sparkling wine. Closer to home, famous British GI’s include “Cornish Pasty” for pies, and a trio of “Scotch” GI registrations – for whiskey, beef, and lamb.

The new regulation is directed at enhancing protection for the agricultural sector, as well as consolidating and streamlining procedures and protections for wines and spirits – which currently derive from a host of disparate EU legal instruments – into a single, more coherent framework. In addition, the regulation aims to make the process of registering a GI more simple and straightforward, and will also see the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) managing the GI Register.

Under EU law, regulations (as contrasted with directives) are automatically the law of every member state once passed, without any possibility of opting out; whether or not the regulation also requires an act of the country’s national legislature or parliament will depend on the jurisdiction. This particular regulation will come into force 20 days after it is published in the EU’s Official Journal.

GI Registrations can be searched on GIView here.

Get in touch for any GI-related queries.