United States

July 24, 2009
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

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.