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Indications of Geographical Origin

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EUIPO warning: beware of counterfeit food products and beverages

Counterfeiters forge watches, handbags, clothing and many other things. This is common knowledge. But the fact that food products and beverages are subject to large-scale counterfeiting, too, is less commonly known among the public. "What’s on your table?" is a current externer Link PDF-Datei campaign by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) which aims at helping consumers protect themselves against counterfeit products as well as motivating foodstuffs and beverages producers to have their agricultural and food products protected. About 22,000 tonnes of food products and around 850,000 litres of beverages worth 91 million euro were seized by Interpol last year. Alcoholic drinks are counterfeit in especially fraudulent ways – in many cases, they are brought to market in the original bottles with fake labels. Olive oil, beer, meat, cheese and dairy products are also subject to counterfeiting.

The resulting loss causes damage to producers and consumers alike: whereas the producers and the EU struggle with corporate losses, job cutbacks and tax deficits, consumers are exposed to health threats. There is proven evidence that counterfeit foodstuffs contain dangerous substances such as methanol, mercury, fipronil and various toxic insecticides and pesticides. In addition, production and distribution of counterfeit products are often related to organised crime and contribute to financing other types of serious crime such as drug trafficking, money laundering, cybercrime, fraud and even terrorism.

Protection for foodstuffs and agricultural products

Certain foodstuffs and agricultural products, for example, fruit and vegetables, fish, meat and meat products, cheese, bread, pastry and beer can be protected as geographical indications. This is a Europe-wide IP right. The legal basis is the Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 (formerly Regulation (EU) no. 1151/2012) with the German implementing provisions in Sections 130 to 136 Trade Mark Act (Markengesetz).

There are two categories of protection, these are

  • protected designations of origin (PDO), e.g. "Allgäuer Sennalpkäse" (cheese)
  • protected geographical indications (PGI), e.g. "Thüringer Rostbratwurst" (sausage)

In both cases, this must be a name that you use to designate your product. The origin of the product itself must be a specific place, a specific region or a specific country. The essential requirement for protection is that there is a link between the properties of your product and its production in the region of origin.

For protected designations of origin, the link must be particularly close, i.e. all production steps must take place in the place or region concerned. However, for protected geographical indications, it is sufficient if at least one of the production steps takes place in the geographical area of origin and the quality, the reputation or another characteristic of the product is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.

Indications of Geographical Origin - logos

The application for registration of a geographical indication/designation of origin must be filed at the DPMA. The examination is conducted in two stages, first by the DPMA and then by the European Commission, which also carries out registration. Detailed information is available in the information leaflet "Information on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin" pdf-Datei W 7729.1.

Protected geographical indications and designations of origin must be taken into consideration as absolute grounds for refusal in trade mark application procedures and invalidity proceedings and as grounds for opposition in trade mark proceedings concerning conflicting signs.

Future protection for craft and industrial products

Indications of Geographical Origin refer to the name of products originating in a particular geographical area whose specific quality, reputation or other characteristics are attributable to that particular origin. externer Link Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 extends the protection of Indications of Geographical Origin at EU level, which previously only applied to wines, spirits and agricultural products, to craft and industrial products. The aim of the regulation is to promote regional crafts and traditional industries, prevent imitations and safeguard the economic value of the products. The regulation also creates uniform standards for registration and protection across Europe, which are to be applicable from December 2025. Further information on this topic can be found externer Link here.

Where can you search for protected Indications of Geographical Origin?

The database of the European Commission externer Link eAmbrosia contains all protected indications for wine, food and spirits and brings together the previous databases ‘E-Baccus’, ‘Door’ and ‘E-Spirit-Drinks’. The same applies to the database of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) launched at the end of November 2020 externer Link GIview, which is largely identical to eAmbrosia but does not allow searches for protected traditional specialities.

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Pictures: iStock.com/valentinrussanov, DPMA

Last updated: 20 June 2025