Research project

Investigator:
Irene Calboli

Abstract:

This study will focus on the different types of legal protection offered to geographical indications of origin (GIs) in the European Union and the United States—respectively sui generis and protection as certification and collective trademarks. However, this study will also explore the special protection (similar to sui generis rights) offered to appellations for wines in the U.S. Building on this analysis, this study will argue that GI protection in the EU and the U.S. is not as different as the two camps may otherwise acknowledge. Instead, the ongoing transatlantic controversy is primarily the result of national trade-related interests based on a few contested names—specifically the names of some cheeses that the U.S. deems to be generic and few registered trademarks. Accordingly, this study will offer some suggestions to address these conflicts in order to find a compromise that would address the concerns of both the U.S. and the EU. In particular, these suggestions could assist U.S. and EU policy makers in finding a way forward on the GI controversy as part of the negotiations in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Ultimately, this study will argue that GI protection could bring positive effects not only to the EU, but also the U.S. economy because GIs can represent important incentives for local and rural development also in the U.S., and offer additional information to U.S. consumers as to the geographical origin of the products and the characteristics associated with this origin.