Council Adopts New Regulation on Geographical Indication Protection for Craft and Industrial Products

This new EU-wide intellectual property right could offer protection to products like Murano glass, Albacete cutlery, Donegal tweed, Porcelaine de Limoges, Solingen cutlery and Boleslawiec pottery.

The regulation from the European Parliament and the Council aims to enable artisans and producers, particularly small businesses, to promote and protect names of their craft and industrial products whose characteristics are essentially attributable to their place of origin.

The objective is to enhance consumers’ ability to recognise and appreciate the quality of these products, facilitating consumers to make more informed choices. Consequently, it will become easier to support the promotion, attraction and retention of skills and job opportunities in the EU.

The regulation comes in the wake of the existing GI protection rules for wines, spirit drinks, foodstuffs and other agricultural products, a framework which has been in place since 1992.

EUIPO’s role in craft and industrial geographical indications

The EUIPO will play an important role in implementing the new system, particularly regarding the management of the registration procedure. The new rules will enable a simple and cost-efficient registration of GIs for craft and industrial products.

Producers should file their GI applications with Member States’ designated authorities, who will then submit successful applications for further evaluation and approval to the EUIPO. Members States that currently do not have a national system in place may request approval for a direct registration procedure to be applicable in their case. If approved, producer groups from those Member States will be allowed to file their applications directly with the EUIPO.

Background

The regulation follows the Intellectual Property Action Plan, which the European Commission adopted in November 2020, it which it announced that it would consider the feasibility of a GI protection system for craft and industrial products at EU level.

The adoption of the Craft and Industrial GIs Regulation will enable the EU to fully meet its international obligations under the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications. In pursuit of this goal, on 9 October, the Council also adopted an amendment to the Council decision concerning the European Union’s accession to the 2015 Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement (an international treaty under the World Intellectual Property Organization). This amendment designates the EUIPO as the competent authority responsible for administering the Geneva Act within the Union, particularly concerning geographical denominations of industrial and craft products.

The Geneva Act facilitates the international registration of geographical indications and appellations of origin through a single registration procedure. This international registration system offers protection for names identifying the geographic origin of both agricultural products and craft and industrial products. The EU needed to establish GI protection for craft and industrial products to be able to take full advantage of the protection offered by this treaty to non-agricultural products.

Next steps

The vote by the Council today, 9 October, is the last step in the decision-making procedure. This closes the adoption procedure. The regulation will now be signed by the co-legislators on 18 October at the Strasbourg Plenary. It will then be published in the EU’s Official Journal in early November and will enter into force 20 days later, in parallel with the Council’s decision.

Source:EUIPO

Editor: IPR Daily-Horace