Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2000:599
Date: 2000-11-07
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Full Court
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Foodstuffs;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property;Consumer protection
Concepts: Protected names
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary of the Judgment 
Agriculture — Uniform laws — Protection of geographical indications and designations 
of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs — Matters covered by Regulation 
No 2081/92 — Rules prohibiting the use of an indication of source in the absence of a 
link between the characteristics of the product and its geographical provenance — Not 
covered 
(Council Regulation No 2081/92, Art. 2(2)(b)) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-312/98 
Regulation No 2081/92 on the protection 
of geographical indications and designa­
tions of origin for agricultural products and 
foodstuffs does not preclude the applica­
tion of national legislation which prohibits 
the potentially misleading use of a geogra­
phical indication of source in the case of 
which there is no link between the char­
acteristics of the product and its geogra­
phical provenance. 
According to Article 2(2)(b), Regulation 
No 2081/92 only concerns geographical 
indications in respect of which there is a 
direct link between both a specific quality, 
reputation or other characteristic of the 
product and its specific geographical origin. 
Simple geographical indications of source, 
in the case of which there is no link 
between the characteristics of the product 
and its geographical provenance, do not fall 
within that definition and are not therefore 
protected under Regulation No 2081/92. 
(see paras 43-44, 54 and operative part) 
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