On 13 July, the European Commission organised a virtual workshop to present its « Study on controlling and enforcing rules for Geographical Indication protection at the EU level for non-agricultural products » (See the Workshop Summary).
The Study carries out a cost-effectiveness analysis related to the existing legal means to protect non-agricultural GIs as well as mechanisms for control and enforcement. It proposes three options for a future EU protection system for non-agricultural GIs (the full version of the study is expected to be published by the end of 2021):
- Model 1: Verification, monitoring and enforcement rules under a private responsibility system (inspired to the trademark system) ;
- Model 2: Verification rules under a mix of public-private responsibility system, together with monitoring and enforcement rules under a private responsibility system (following national sui generis protection systems);
- Model 3: Verification, monitoring and enforcement rules under a mix of public-private responsibility system (based on the EU sui generis system for agri-food products).
This event is part of a comprehensive consultation process to collect the points of view of stakeholders on a possible EU-wide system to protect non-agricultural GIs. In this respect, the European Commission is actually running a public consultation closing on 22 July to which oriGIn has participated.
oriGIn supports the establishment of a harmonized sui generis system for the recognition and protection of non-agricultural GIs at the EU level. The latest updates on this topic are available at the dedicated page of our website.
