In Brazil, the group in charge of the PDO Asiago obtained the cancellation of the figurative trademark “ASIAGO CCFN”, which had been filed in 2020 by CONSORTIUM FOR COMMON FOOD NAMES HOLDINGS INC. The Brazilian Trademark Office, which initially had granted the trademark, recognized its deceitfulness, in addition to the lack of legitimacy in the registration request. In Chile, it successfully opposed a similar trademark application, filed by the same US entity. The recognition of the PDO ASIAGO in Chile in 2018 was crucial to this legal success.
Once again, the theories based on the alleged international generic nature of some geographical names were disproved by the practice. On the other hand, those cases confirm that the activities of monitoring and enforcing the rights of geographical indications in international markets require increasing economic efforts by GI groups. The support of national and regional authorities is therefore crucial.
Read the full Asiago group press release in English and Italian.
Additional information on Enforcement cases and GIs and Trademarks can be found on the dedicated pages of the oriGIn website.
