Regulating the market of geographical indication products needs to build a foundation from the source

"Zhangshugang pepper" is a specialty of Zhangshu Town (also known as Zhangshugang), Xiangyin County, Yueyang City, Hunan Province.

Taking "Zhangshugang Pepper" as the name of a dish is an infringement

In 2013, the Chili Industry Association of Zhangshu Town, Xiangyin County registered the geographical indication certification mark of "Zhangshugang Chili", which is approved as a chili (plant) in the 31st category.

However, in the face of considerable economic benefits, many restaurants have launched relevant signs to attract business

In the first instance, the Changsha County Court held that the actions of the catering company constituted an infringement of the exclusive right to the registered trademark No.

The Changsha Intermediate People's Court held that the geographical indication certification mark is a special commercial mark, usually expressed in the form of "geographical name + product generic name"

The alleged infringing logo is "Zhangshugang Pepper", in which "gang" and "gang" are pronounced the same.

Regarding the legal source defense, the court held that, considering the popularity, price, and the appellant's business scope and usage of "Zhangshugang Chili", it could be determined that the appellant was not in good faith when selling the product, so the legal source defense could not be established.

Strengthen the protection of geographical indications

It is understood that in practice, the acts that infringe the legitimate rights and interests of geographical indication products mainly include forging or unauthorized use of geographical indications for publicity, production and sales, and preemptively registering relevant geographical indications or signs similar to geographical indications as trademarks or registration as enterprises name

The 14th Five-Year Plan for the Protection and Utilization of Geographical Indications (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") implemented this year proposes to strengthen the supervision of geographical indication protection

Relevant experts said that geographical indications are the crystallization of the collective culture and wisdom of a region, and it is very important to ensure that products using geographical indications meet relevant quality standards

Geographical indication trademarks must be used reasonably and compliantly

Geographical indications are signs that indicate that a commodity comes from a certain region, and the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of the commodity are mainly determined by natural or human factors in the region, and can be applied for registration as a certification mark or collective mark

　　Relevant experts pointed out that geographical indication trademarks are usually expressed in the form of "geographical name + common product name"

　　Compared with ordinary trademarks, geographical indication trademarks have certain special characteristics: in terms of the function of trademarks, geographical indication trademarks weaken the identification characteristics of ordinary trademarks (goods trademarks and service marks) to the source of goods or services to some extent, while Focuses on the proof of origin, raw materials, manufacturing methods, quality, or other specific qualities of goods or services

　　Geographical indications can be registered in the form of certification marks or collective marks because the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of a generic product identified by the geographical indication are basically attributable to the climate, geology, soil of the place of production , raw materials and other natural factors and the corresponding human factors such as production technology, processing technology, local know-how, etc.

　　Article 6 of the Regulations on the Implementation of the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates that if a geographical indication is registered as a certification mark, the natural person, legal person or other organization whose goods meet the conditions for using the geographical indication may request the use of the certification mark, and control the use of the certification mark.

　　(Comprehensive arrangement by Wang Ning)

"China Food News" (03 edition on June 6, 2022)

　　(Editor-in-charge: Wang Ning)