Towards a core unitary legal regime for Geographical Indications in the European Union digital market

Recently the European Commission has launched two road maps affecting geographical indications (GIs) regulations from two different perspectives: one regarding a revision of agricultural products, wine and spirits regulations and another regarding intellectual property. In this second plan, special attention will be paid to upgrading the system for IP protection, by exploring ways to strengthen the protection system for GIs of agricultural products and considering the introduction of an EU protection system for non-agricultural GIs. This article aims to explore the principal challenges of reforming GI legal regime, and the opportunity to establish core common principles for those rights by considering the unitary legal nature of GIs as an intellectual property right, while analysing and preserving differences within each sector. The article shows the value of analysing GIs as an intellectual property right in a coordinated way, as an essential element of the EU Action Plan addressed to upgrade the EU IP system to facilitate digital and green transition. The study analyses EU GIs case law, in comparison with other jurisdictions such as Spain. This article has been developed in the framework of the research project ‘Legal regime of plant breeding and quality distinctive signs: Promoting food safety and quality and sustainable socio-economic progress’, led by Professor E. Gallego and Professor N. Fernandez. Reference: DER2017-87675-R. Funding body: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and European Union, European Regional Development Found (ERDF).