EUIPO: Provisional Deal to Protect Geographical Indications for Craft and Industrial Products

On 2 May, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional deal on the regulation for geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products. This regulation, when approved, will introduce a new geographical indication (GI) for craft and industrial products with qualities linked to the area of production, for example, Bohemian glass or Limoges porcelain.

This new GI protection aims to enable more innovation and investment in crafts by assisting artisans and producers, particularly SMEs, to promote and protect their traditional knowledge and expertise at EU-level in compliance with EU competition laws.

The new regulation also provides for a new competence for the EUIPO regarding the management of the registration procedures for craft and industrial GIs.

Today, it is possible to register a GI for foods, beverages and other agricultural products at EU-level, such as Prosciutto di Parma and Champagne. However, there is an absence of any EU-wide GI protection for craft and industrial goods. This regulation aims to establish directly applicable GI protection for craft and industrial products.

Main points of agreement

The agreement reached between the Council and the Parliament on 2 May 2023, includes the following:

guarantees the coherence with GI protection rules for agricultural products by applying the concept of ‘protected geographical indications’ (so-called ‘PGIs’), which ensures that geographical indications are attractive for producers maintaining a strong link between the product’s characteristics and its geographical origin

provides for efficient control and verification procedures for the protection of GIs with a system based on self-declaration as the default procedure that member states reinforce with controls

ensures that the protection of craft and industrial GIs also applies to the domain name space and the online environment

facilitates procedures for the registration of GIs, in particular for SMEs, while ensuring a high level of legal protection with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) playing an important role on the registration procedures for craft and industrial GIs

Next steps

The provisional agreement reached on 2 May must now be endorsed and formally adopted by the Council and European Parliament. The proposal for the regulation was first published on 13 April 2022, and the regulation is expected to enter into force beginning of 2024.