Geographical Indications

Geographical Indication is used to identify goods having special characteristics originating from a definite territory. A geographical indication for specialty food or drink may be generic, a geographical indication is not a trademark because it does not serve to exclusively identify a specific commercial enterprise, and therefore cannot constitute a genericized trademark.

The European Union has actively sought to restrict the use of geographical indications by third parties outside the EU.

The extension of protection for geographical indications is somewhat controversial because a geographical indication may have been registered as a trademark elsewhere.

For example, if Parma Ham were part of a trademark registered in Canada by a Canadian manufacturer, ham manufacturers actually located in Parma, Italy might be unable to use this name in Canada.

Other affected products include Champagne, Bordeaux and many other wine names, Roquefort, Parmesan and Feta cheese, and Scotch whisky.

In the 1990s the Parma consortium successfully sued the Asda supermarket chain to prevent it using the description Parma ham on prosciutto produced in Parma but sliced outside the region.

The Geographical Indications Act, 1999 (Indian Act) protects IPR claims arising out of the “geographical indications” in India.

Books On Geographical Indications:

New Frontiers of Intellectual Property Law: Ip And Cultural Heritage - Geographical Indications - Enforcement - Overprotection (IIc Studies)
by Christopher Heath (Editor), Anselm Sanders (Editor), Anselm Kamperman Sanders (Editor)

Geographical Indications and Intellectual Property: A Legal And Economic Analysis (Hardcover) (November 30, 2006) by Michael Blakeney