Archive for the ‘Geographic Indicators’ Category
South Africa Patent Laws favour the usage of attorneys Even though it is possible to file a patent application directly without the usage of a patent lawyer or attorney, it cannot be recommended. The reason is simple. The South Africa patent laws favour the usage of an attorney. The South African Patent Office is a non-investigating office. This means that you can complete the application, file it and even receive the patent right upon payment of the required fees without the invention complying with all the requirements. It is not a loophole in the system. It simply means that the responsibility lies with the applicant to ensure that the invention is indeed patentable and that the application will be done correctly. The snag comes in when another applicant or company questions the patentability of the invention down the line or argues that the idea was not original at all. Lawsuits may follow and all the money already spent in the commercial development of the patent may be lost forever. You will need the help of a patent lawyer who knows the South Africa patent laws and will conduct the novelty searches and apply in the correct manner right from the word go.
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The geographical limitations can be quite strict. "Newcastle Brown Ale" was restricted to being brewed in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in England. However, having obtained this protection for their product, the brewery decided in 2004 that it would move across the river Tyne to Gateshead. As Gateshead is technically a separate town—albeit only the width of a river apart—it does not fall within the required geographical restriction. The brewery then applied to the European Union authorities to have the geographical restriction revoked. If the restriction had not been revoked, the brewery would have been forced either to move back to Newcastle, or stop calling its beer "Newcastle" brown ale
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The EU strives to promote this kind of protection within WTO, e.g., via a database of multilateral registers. The general aims of the regulation are to allow regional producers of goods to maximize both quality and profits on local goods. They also intended to allow local know-how and expertise to continue and thrive and to prevent the over standardization of different foodstuffs.
While having supporters, there is also some opposition to these regulations. The following arguments are amongst those put forth:
The potential complexity of the registers may be abused
Emigrants may want to continue to make their native products
Many producers will be affected by the necessary rebranding to avoid narrowing or even closing the markets
Extra costs may be incurred by governments, businesses, and consumers
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Florida orange juice is certified as being such by that state's Department of Citrus. Some of these marks are protected in the United States under certification mark law, such as the Idaho Potato Commission's "Idaho" and "Grown in Idaho" registered trademarks for potatoes. On the other hand, there also are cases in which a geographical name has been trademarked for a particular product that might not even be manufactured there, such as Philadelphia cream cheese. However, there is little impetus to extend further recognitions at the federal level. Only products that are either made or sold in the EU are subject to the EU regulation.
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The United States generally opposes protection of geographical designations of origin (since many of these that are protected elsewhere are commonly used generic terms in the United States, such as parmesan cheese). For example, one can buy American champagne, feta, gruyère and camembert. However, there are some groups that have some degree of protection for their regional designation. For example, Vidalia onions must be produced within a certain region around Vidalia, Georgia, as defined by the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
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The EU strives to promote this kind of protection within WTO, e.g., via a database of multilateral registers. The general aims of the regulation are to allow regional producers of goods to maximize both quality and profits on local goods. They also intended to allow local know-how and expertise to continue and thrive and to prevent the over standardization of different foodstuffs. While having supporters, there is also some opposition to these regulations. The following arguments are amongst those put forth:
The potential complexity of the registers may be abused
Emigrants may want to continue to make their native products
Many producers will be affected by the necessary rebranding to avoid narrowing or even closing the markets
Extra costs may be incurred by governments, businesses, and consumers
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The Regulation laying down general rules on the definition, description and presentation of aromatized wines, aromatized wine-based drinks and aromatized wine-product cocktails institutes a system of protected denominations for aromatized drinks which is very similar to that for spirits. The association of general names with specific countries is weaker: a drink labelled simply "Sangria" must have been produced in Spain or Portugal, for example, but it is permissible to label a drink "Sangria produced in the United Kingdom: aromatized wine-based drink" if the drink meets the other requirements to be described as sangria. Similarly, the denomination "Clarea" on its own is reserved for drinks produced in Spain. The protected geographical designations are:
Nürnberger Glühwein (Germany)
Vermouth de Chambéry (France)
Vermouth di Torino (Italy)
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The Regulation laying down general rules on the definition, description and presentation of spirit drinks provides for a double system of protection of spirit descriptions. Spirits are divided into 21 categories, which each have rules for fabrication and minimum strength. Within these categories, certain names are reserved for drinks from particular countries, for example ouzo, which is aniseed-flavoured spirit drink that must have been produced exclusively in Greece or Cyprus, or grappa, which is a grape marc spirit produced in Italy. The Regulation also defines a number of geographical designations, which are reserved for drinks that "acquired their character and definitive qualities" in the area denominated.
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Despite (or perhaps because of) the traditional importance of appellations for wine, there has been little harmonization of national provisions within the European Union. Member States delimit the specified areas of production and determine the rules and appellations that apply: the European Commission restricts itself to publishing the information provided by the Member States. Appellations are usually the geographical name of the area in which the wine is produced, although there are some historical exceptions: muscadet and blanquette in France, cava and manzanilla in Spain and vinho verde in Portugal. The appellations are not necessarily unique: Cava may refer either to a quality sparkling wine psr produced in Spain or to a Greek table wine which has been aged
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European Union rules governing the production of wine ("the product obtained exclusively from the total or partial alcoholic fermentation of fresh grapes, whether or not crushed, or of grape must") are considerably longer than Community trade mark law: the main text, the Regulation on the common organization of the market in wine runs to over 46,000 words. To be considered as a "quality wine", the wine must come from a specified region and be associated with a "geographical indication" or appellation: indeed, the technical term used in the Regulation is quality wine psr, with the "psr" standing for "produced in a specified region". Wines that do not meet this requirement may only be marketed as table wine.
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