As of 1 December 2025, the Office has assumed competence for registering applications for the new intellectual property right covering Geographical Indications for Craft and Industrial Products (CIGIs). By 2 December 2026, all existing national protection systems will be phased out and replaced by the new EU system.

Under the standard procedure, EU producer groups and other applicants from twenty EU Member States can submit applications for the protection of new CIGIs to their respective national competent authorities. These authorities will conduct the national phase examination, which includes examining the application and launching the national opposition procedure. Once the national examination phase is successfully completed, the competent authorities will forward the application to the Office for the examination at Union phase to take place. This phase involves verifying the absence of manifest errors, initiating the EU-level opposition procedure, and ultimately registering the CIGI in the Union register.  Applicants from remaining seven EU Member States - from Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands and Sweden will file applications directly with the EUIPO.

In addition, EU Member States may seek protection for any existing CIGIs protected under national law or established by use prior to 1 December 2025.

To facilitate the process, the Office has developed GIportal, an intuitive e-filing tool for CIGIs.

The first weeks of implementation have already demonstrated strong interest in the scheme. In fact, until 27 February 2026, the Office published 64 applications for existing names submitted by France, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden primarily in the sectors of stones and minerals, textiles, and ceramics.

Webinars, workshops, detailed FAQs as well as countless other sources of useful information can be found on the EUIPO’s GI Hub.

Source: https://www.euipo.europa.eu/en/news/new-eu-system-for-geographical-indications-for-craft-and-industrial-products