Co Conference „Fu Future of IP in Europe - Ch Challenges and perspec9ve” 5 March 2019 Con Confl flict between PG PGI, PD PDO and TSG Delia Belciu A"orney-at-law Romanian and European Trademark and Design a"orney
q GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS Ø The protec)on of geographical indica)ons (« PGI ») is of both economic and cultural importance Ø A PGI creates value for the local communi)es through products that have roots in tradi)on, culture, and can sustain the rural development of communi)es as well as to create opportuni)es at the level of the labor market Ø A PGI allows farmers and producers to give informa)on to consumers on the quality of the product linked to its origin Ø A PGI is important for producers – both on internal and external market, for consumers – as they obtain a guarantee of the quality, of the produc)on method Ø The na)onal iden)ty can be expressed through a PGI Ø A PGI is an intellectual property right. This guarantees to consumers that the protected name is only used by the producers and operators respec)ng the rules of produc)on of the product
Ø There are three quality schemes at EU level that guarantee the tradi5ons and the specific quali5es of the agricultural products and foodstuffs, wines, spirits drinks, aroma5sed wines, namely: § PDO (Protected Designa0on of Origin) § PGI (Protected Geographical Indica0on) § Tradi0onal Speciali0es Guaranteed (TSG)
Ø Protected designa.on of origin (PDO) § Product names registered as PDO are those that have the strongest links to the defined geographical area in which they are produced. All the produc;on steps have to take place in the defined geographical area. § Products o Food, agricultural products and wines § Specifica.ons o Every part of the produc;on, processing and prepara;on process must take place in the specific region. o For wines - the grapes have to come exclusively from the geographical area where the wine is made. § Label: o mandatory for food and agricultural products o op;onal for wine
Ø PGI (Protected Geographical Indica2on) emphasises the rela+onship between the specific geographic region and the name of the product, where a par+cular quality, reputa+on or other characteris+c is essen+ally a9ributable to its geographical origin. § Products o Food, agricultural products and wines § Specifica2ons o For most products, at least one of the stages of produc+on, processing or prepara+on takes place in the region. o In the case of wine - at least 85% of the grapes used have to come exclusively from the geographical area where the wine is actually made. § Label: o mandatory for food and agricultural products o op+onal for wine
Ø PGI of spirit drinks and aroma1sed wines § The geographical indica/on protects the name of a spirit drink or aroma/sed wine origina/ng in a country, region or locality where the product’s par/cular quality, reputa/on or other characteris/c is essen/ally a;ributable to its geographical origin. § Products o Spirit drinks and aroma/sed wines § Specifica1ons o For most products, at least one of the stages of dis/lla/on or prepara/on takes place in the region. o The raw products do not need to come from the region. § Label: o op/onal
Ø Tradi&onal Speciali&es Guaranteed (TSG) safeguards tradi+onal methods of produc+on and recipes by helping producers of tradi+onal product in marke+ng and communica+ng the value-adding a8ributes of their tradi+onal recipes and products to consumers. § The TSG highlights the tradi+onal aspects such as the way the product is made or its composi+on, without being linked to a specific geographical area. § Products o Food and agricultural products § Label o mandatory for all products
Ø Thus, the first two quality schemes, the PDO and the PGI have a link with the geographical area from which the product comes from - this can be the name of the region, a specific place or in excepBonal circumstances, a country used to describe an agricultural product or foodstuff; tradiBonal geographical or non-geographical names designaBng an agricultural product or a foodstuff can also be considered. E.g. Feta, while the third one, the TSG, it values a producBon process of a tradiBonal product
Ø The most importance step in order to be register as a PDO or PGI in the EU register is the prepara8on of an applica8on by a producer group Ø The main document is the product specifica8on, which describes the prac8ce of produc8on, defines the delimited area in which it can be obtained, as well as some other rules applying to the PDO/PGI Ø DraAing the specifica8ons can be difficult some8mes, e.g. if the producers do not agree on a common method of produc8on or are not located within the delimited area as well as costly
Ø Exclusivity of the European Union system: CJUE, C-478/07, Budĕjovický Budvar, point 114: ” the aim of Regula.on No 510/2006 is not to establish, alongside na.onal rules which may con.nue to exist, an addi.onal system of protec.on for qualified geographical indica.ons, like, for example, that introduced by Council Regula9on (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December 1993 on the Community trade mark (OJ 1994 L 11, p. 1), but to provide a uniform and exhaus.ve system of protec.on for such indica.ons ” Ø Na#onal systems are in place to regulate the process of applica#on (including na#onal objec#on) and ensure the administra#ve enforcement of the protec#on to all PDO/PGIs
q Legisla(ve framework Ø Regula(on (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs. § In what concerns foodstuff, currently, in Romania, in addi6on to the above, there is an addi6on protec6on ensured through Order 394/2014 regarding the cer6fica6on of foodstuff obtained according to Romanian well-known recipes. o A well-known Romanian recipe is defined under this regula6on as the foodstuff produced by observing the composi6on used for more than 30 years before the day of entry into force of this Order (02.04.2014) o The registra6on of the foodstuff obtained in accordance with a Romanian well-known recipes is made on a voluntary basis within the Na6onal Registry of Well-Known recipes Ø REGULATION (EC) No 110/2008 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 15 January 2008on the defini(on, descrip(on, presenta(on, labelling and the protec(on of geographical indica(ons ofspirit drinks and repealing Council Regula(on (EEC) No 1576/89 Ø Regula(on (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisa(on of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regula(ons (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007
Ø For all PDOs and PGIs the EU legisla5on has defined the same level of protec1on across the EU . It reserves the use of the name exclusively to the operators that comply with all the requirements of the specifica5ons (including the geographical delimita5on), by protec5ng against: (a) any direct or indirect commercial use of a registered name in respect of products not covered by the registra5on insofar as those products are comparable to the products registered under that name or insofar as using the name exploits the reputa5on of the protected name, including when those products are used as an ingredient; (a) any misuse, imita5on or evoca5on, even if the true origin of the product is indicated or if the protected name is translated or accompanied by an expression such as "style", "type", "method", "as produced in", "imita5on” or similar, including when those products are used as an ingredient;
c) any other false or misleading indica2on as to the provenance, origin, nature or essen2al quali2es of the product, on the inner or outer packaging, adver2sing material or documents rela2ng to the product concerned, and the packing of the product in a container liable to convey a false impression as to its origin; d) any other prac2ce liable to mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product. Ø PDOs and PGIs do not become generic Ø Enforcement of protec2on of the names is responsibility of Member States and is organised in different ways depending of the administra2ve and territorial organisa2on of a Member state.
Ø Currently, Romania has applied / registered at EU level, nine PGIs for agricultural foodstuff products, namely ( Magiunul de prune de Topoloveni, Salamul de Sibiu, Novac afumat din Tara Barsei , while the applied PGI Scrumbia de Dunare afumata was published, and the other products are under examinaAon Carna@ de Plescoi, Cascaval de Saveni , Salata de icre de s@uca de Tulcea, Telemea de Sibiu, Magiun de Prune Topoloveni and one PDO (Telemea de Ibanes@). Ø PGIs for spirit drinks: Vinars Tarnave, Vinars Segarcea, Vinars Murfatlar, Vinars Vaslui, Vinars Vrancea, Palinca, Horinca de Camarzana, Tuica Zetea de Mediesu Aurit, Tuica de Arges. Ø PDOs / PGIs for wines : BohoAn, Cotnari, Dealu Mare, Dealu Bujorului, Dealurile Olteniei, Dealurile Munteniei, Dragasani, Dealurile Transilvaniei, Husi, etc.
Produced by SONIMPEX SERV COM SRL., registered on 08.04.2011 as PGI
Produced by the members of the group Asociaţia Producătorilor de Salam de Sibiu (APSS) - SC SALSI SA – Sinaia, jud. Prahova; SC H&E REINERT SRL – Feldioara, jud. Brașov; SC ALDIS SRL – Călărași, jud. Călărași; SC AGRICOLA INTERNAȚIONAL SA, Bacău, jud. Bacău; SC SCANDIA ROMÂNIA SA – Sibiu, jud. Sibiu, registered on 19.02.2016 as PGI
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