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Union law protects geographical indications (‘GIs') for agricultural products and foodstuffs, wines and spirit drinks but there was no EU-wide mechanism to protect the names of crafts and industrial products (CI products). Over half of the Member States had established national specific sui generis protection systems for CI with different characteristics, the others used only trade marks and/or rules on unfair competition to protect their intangible assets. At Union level, producers could register individual trade marks, collective trade marks and certification trade marks. However, using trade mark protection did not enable producers of CI products to certify at Union level the link between quality and geographical origin that signals qualities attributed to specific local skills and traditions.
The CIGI Regulation (which was published on 27 October 2023 and entered into force on 16 November.2023) aims therefore at establishing a directly applicable GI protection for CI products at Union level, improving the position of producers to protect their CI products throughout the Union against counterfeiting and giving them incentives to invest into these products, as well as their visibility.
The EUIPO will be the EU authority responsible for managing the registration of these GIs at EU level.
With the introduction of the EU Regulation, by 2 December 2026 existing national rights will cease to exist. Member States will have to inform the European Commission and the EUIPO of any existing national names they wish to have recognised and registered, under the new EU scheme, before this date.
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