Geographcal limitations

July 24, 2009
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

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 If the restriction had not been revoked, the brewery would have been forced either to move back to Newcastle, or stop calling its beer “Newcastle” brown ale