Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(a) 'SPREEWÄLDER GURKEN'
Case C-269/99
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concerned an application under Art 17 of Regulation No
2081/92 from the German government on 26 January 1994 for gherkins
originating in the geographical area defined as 'the glacial valley of the Spree
between the northern edge of the town of Cottbus and the Neuendorfer See,
north of the town of Lübben'. Following various requests made by Spreewald-
verein eV, the German authorities on several occasions amended the original
application so that, finally, according to the amended specification, it sought the
registration of the designation 'SPREEWÄLDER GURKEN' as a PGI. The
geographical area was the territory along the Spree between Jänschwalde and
Dürrenhofe and within the boundaries of an economic region determined by
decisions of the local legislative bodies, called Wirtschaftsraum Spreewald
(Spreewald economic zone), with the result that the geographical area defined
in the original specification was more than doubled. During the course of the
national phase of the simplified procedure under Art 17 of Regulation No
2081/92, a number of interested third parties raised objections to the appli-
cation for registration of the designation 'SPREEWÄLDER GURKEN'. They
claimed that the special geographical and climatic conditions referred to in the
application applied at most to the Spreewald, in the strict sense of the inland
delta region, and not to the entire Wirtschaftsraum Spreewald, and that the
processed product should not contain any raw materials from other production
areas.
3.69
The Defendant, Jütro, had its registered office and production facility in
Jüterbog, a town outside the geographical area of the PGI 'SPREEWÄLDER
GURKEN'. It produced, among other things, pickled gherkins called 'Jütro
Gurkenfäßchen', which were distributed throughout Germany under the
description 'Spreewälder Art' (Spreewald style). A number of other producers
of pickled gherkins brought an action in the Landgericht Hamburg seeking an
order prohibiting Jütro from using the designation 'Spreewälder Art' for its
pickled gherkins on the ground that the use of that designation was invalid.
3.70
The Landgericht Hamburg referred to the ECJ the question whether Regu-
lation (EC) No 590/1999 of 18 March 1999 supplementing, by the designation
'SPREEWÄLDER GURKEN', the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1107/96
on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under
the procedure laid down in Art 17 of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 was
compatible with European Community law. It took the view that the registra-
tion procedure provided for by Art 17 of Regulation No 2081/92 was not
3.71
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Carl Kühne and Others v
Jütro Konservenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG [2001] ECR I-9517.
