Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
to the protection of the name 'BAYERISCHES BIER' as a geographical name
showed that that name had no generic character. 78
(d) 'PARMESAN'
The issue of the possible genericity of 'Parmesan' was raised for the first time in
Case C-66/00, 79 which concerned a criminal prosecution of a person for selling
as 'Parmesan' a dried, grated pasteurised cheese in powder form, made from a
mixture of several types of cheese of various origins, which did not conform to
the specification for the PDO 'PARMIGIANO REGGIANO'. The Tribunale
di Parma referred a number of questions to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling.
The German government intervened, contending that the reference for a
preliminary ruling was inadmissible on the ground that the designation 'Parme-
san' used by the accused was a generic name and not a PDO within the meaning
of Regulation No 2081/92. The Court did not have to deal with this issue, but it
commented that 'in the present case it is far from clear that the designation
“parmesan” has become generic'. 80
3.98
The question of the genericity of 'Parmesan' was finally dealt with by the Court
in Case C-132/05. 81 Following a complaint filed by several economic operators,
the Commission requested the German authorities, by letter of 15 April 2003,
to give clear instructions to the government bodies responsible for the combat-
ing of fraud to bring to an end the marketing on German territory of products
designated as 'Parmesan' which did not comply with the specification for the
PDO 'PARMIGIANO REGGIANO'. The German government replied by
letter of 13 May 2003 that, although the term 'Parmesan' had historical roots in
the region of Parma, it had become a generic name for hard cheeses of diverse
origins, grated or intended to be grated, distinct from the PDO 'PARMI-
GIANO REGGIANO'. On an application by the Commission, the ECJ ruled
that the Federal Republic of Germany had failed to show that the name
'Parmesan' had become generic. 82 It had merely restricted itself to providing
quotations from dictionaries and specialist literature and did not 'provide any
comprehensive view of how the word “Parmesan” is perceived by consumers in
Germany and other Member States, and failed even to give any figures as to the
production or consumption of the cheese marketed under the name “Parmesan”
in Germany or in other Member States'. 83 Finally, the Court noted that at the
3.99
78
Ibid, at para 109.
79
Criminal proceedings against Dante Bigi [2002] ECR I-5917.
80
Ibid, at para 20.
81
Commission of the European Communities v Federal Republic of Germany [2008] ETMR 32.
82
Ibid, at para 57.
83
Ibid, at para 54.
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search