2024-01-08
A new EU Regulation on geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products (‘CIGIR’) was published on 27 October 2023 and entered into force on 16 November. Producers and manufacturers of these products will be able to file applications for GI protection from 1 December 2025.
The Regulation, which has been in development since November 2020, will complement that available for agricultural, food and beverage products and will provide a boost for craftspeople, businesses and consumers in the EU.
The Regulation will be invaluable for a wide range of producers of products that have qualities linked to a specific area, such as jewellery, glass, shoes, textiles, porcelain, musical instruments and furniture. It has been estimated that 300-800 names currently protected by their national GI specific protection systems, or established by usage, could be eligible for protection, such as Charentaise de Charente-Périgord and Paška čipka (lace).
Until now, there were various laws and regulations in EU Member States relating to specific craft and industrial products, but protection was not harmonised. Producers who wished to protect a GI for a craft or industrial product across the EU therefore had to abide by these various rules and in some Member States they had to rely on other measures such as trade mark protection or unfair competition laws.
Various EU Member States currently have some form of national GI craft and industrial schemes, however they vary in terms of the level of protection, administration and fees. For example, in 2014 France passed a law introducing an accreditation procedure administered by the national IP office . Products registered under this law include Siège de Liffol, Granit de Bretagne and Porcelaine de Limoges.
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.
The EUIPO will be the EU authority responsible for managing the registration of these GIs at EU level. The Regulation provides that producer groups will be able to submit applications for protection for GIs for craft and industrial products. The standard registration procedure will consist of two-phases.
The first phase will be run by the Member States’ designated competent authorities and involves the examination of the applications and national opposition proceedings.
If the national authority takes a favourable decision, the application will proceed to the second (Union) phase, where the EUIPO will carry out examination, seek supplementary information if required, consult an Advisory Board if necessary, and conduct an opposition procedure.
Member States can request not to designate a competent authority for the national phase. If approved, producer groups from those Member States will be allowed to file their applications directly with the EUIPO (direct registration procedure).
The new system is open to GIs from non-EU countries as well.
The registration system is designed to be fair, straightforward, and cost-effective to make it accessible to producers and provide legal certainty.
The EUIPO will also develop and maintain several IT tools and solutions to manage and promote GIs for craft and industrial products. These include the GIportal (an e-filing and management system), the Union Register for GIs for craft and industrial products and the GIview database (already available). Any EUIPO decisions will be appealable to the Boards of Appeal and subsequently to the EU General Court. The EUIPO has also prepared a GI Hub to provide all the latest information on this new EU scheme.
Once implemented, this new GI initiative will be a significant boost for producers of craft and industrial products. As with the GI system for agricultural products, producers will be allowed to use the official symbol of “protected geographical indication” to indicate that the product complies with the relevant product’s specifications. This will enable better visibility of the product’s geographical origin and production techniques. The new Regulation is particularly aimed at producers in rural areas and for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, providing an incentive to invest in new products, develop traditional skills and attract tourism.
The Regulation will also be compatible with the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications, which entered into force on 26 February 2020, following EU accession on 26 November 2019. This agreement allows the international registration of GIs, including GIs for craft and industrial products, through a single procedure with WIPO – meaning that EU producers can also protect their craft and industrial products in all other signatory countries.
The Regulation was one of the key proposals under the Intellectual Property Action Plan adopted in November 2020, where the European Commission first announced that it would consider the feasibility of a GI protection system for craft and industrial products at EU level.
Following a public consultation, in April 2022, the Commission published a proposal for a Regulation, which was adopted. The Council adopted its general approach in December 2022 and the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee unanimously adopted a draft-mandate in March this year. This led to the Council of the EU and the European Parliament reaching a political agreement on the new Regulation in May 2023.
The creation of the GI protection for craft and industrial products fills a notable gap in IP protection in Europe. It will enable producers to take action against the unlawful production or marketing of products using the protected names and will provide reassurance to consumers that they are buying genuine products.