Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
iii. Limitation of the effects of a registered geographical trade mark
Article 74b(3) provides that:
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By way of derogation from Article 7(1)(c), signs or indications which may serve, in
trade, to designate the geographical origin of the goods or services may constitute
European certification marks within the meaning of paragraph 1. A certification mark
shall not entitle the proprietor to prohibit a third party from using in the course of trade
such signs or indications, provided the third party uses them in accordance with honest
practices in industrial or commercial matters. A certification mark may not be invoked
against a third party who is entitled to use a geographical name.
Thus a geographical name may be protected as a certification mark even though
it is descriptive of a geographical area. It does not have to have acquired a
secondary non-geographical meaning.
Article 74b(4) provides that 'Titles I to VII and IX to XIV shall apply to
European certification marks to the extent that this Section does not provide
otherwise'.
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iv. Regulations governing use of the mark
Article 74c(1) requires an applicant for a European certification mark to submit
regulations governing the use of the certification mark within the period
prescribed in accordance with Art 74k.
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Article 74c(2) requires that the regulations governing use shall specify:
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the persons authorised to use the mark;
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the characteristics to be certified by the mark;
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how the certifying body is to test those characteristics and to supervise the
use of the mark;
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the conditions of use of the mark, including sanctions.
An example of how these regulations might operate in a geographical marks
context is provided by the UK example of 'STILTON' cheese.
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The Regu-
lations submitted for the certification mark specified:
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5.
The character of the product to be certified by the trade mark shall be that it is an
English made blue moulded or white cheese manufactured in the counties of
Leicester, Derby and Nottingham with no applied pressure, forming its own crust
or coat and made in cylindrical form from full cream milk produced by English
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See '
Stilton' Trade Mark
[1967] FSR 15.
