Issues of the geographic indications of products regularly turn up in the trademark context. Some well-known examples include COGNAC for brandy from France or ROQUEFORT for cheese manufactured from sh
TTAB find that purchasers and consumers of cheese understand the term “gruyere” as a designation that primarily refers to a category within the genus of cheese that can come from anywhere.
On January 27, 2021 the new German wine law came into force. It introduces a new kind of hierarchy for German wines based on its geographic origin. In a way it can be seen as a remodelling of the system that previously existed with the aim to improve the overall quality of German wine as well as to fit better with the EU system. The four primary geographic “levels” for a German quality wine (Qualitätswein) are now Area, Region, Village, and Vineyard.
On 2021 March 30, sake from the Hagi district of Yamaguchi Prefecture was designated as a “Geographical Indication (GI),” a national system that protects special products tied to the local climate.