Intellectual property and quality indications: appellations of origin and geographical indications

Intellectual property and quality indications: appellations of origin and geographical indications

Protected Designations of Origin (hereinafter PDOs) and Protected Geographical Indications (hereinafter PGIs) are intellectual property rights which, through the inclusion of specific symbols or signs, protect the quality of agricultural and food products linked to a specific geographical region. 

In fact, by including these symbols on the packaging of the product in question, the average consumer is helped to identify and differentiate those products that have a specific geographical origin and, therefore, qualities and/or reputations inherent to that origin.

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

PDO products can be defined as those whose quality or specific characteristics are due to the geographical environment or territory in which they have been produced, including the natural and human factors specific to the area, and whose production, preparation and/or processing are always carried out in the delimited territorial area from which they take their name.

Protected Geographical Indications (PGI)

On the other hand, products with a PGI must necessarily possess a certain quality or characteristic that is attributable to a specific geographical area. However, unlike a PDO, a PGI only requires that some of the production stages take place in the selected territory.

Differences between a PDO and a PGI

The main difference between a PDO and a PGI lies in the link between the product and the geographical area in question. While for PDOs it is mandatory that all stages of production take place in the defined geographical area, for a PGI it is only necessary that at least one of the production stages takes place in the area in question. 

Therefore, a PDO product will always have a stronger link with the geographical area than a PGI product.

What rights does a PDO or PGI confer?

At the intellectual property level, the rights conferred by geographical indications make it possible to prevent third parties from using terms on products that have not been produced in the relevant geographical area or in accordance with the rules or practices established for that purpose. 

Registration carried out at local or European level will provide protection against any use, imitation, usurpation or evocation of the name by similar or comparable products and, in general, against any parasitic practice by a competitor in the market taking advantage of the reputation of a PDO or PGI to mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product. 

In short, it is extremely important to have the aforementioned denominations and the corresponding symbols since, in terms of intellectual property, it constitutes a guarantee of the authenticity of the products, which provides greater legal security and benefits both producers, recognizing the added value of their products, and consumers, by guaranteeing the purchase of products with the necessary characteristics and controls that make them suitable to have the distinctive sign of PDO or PGI.