Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:1998:107
Date: 1998-03-12
Language of the case: French
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Foodstuffs;Intellectual, industrial and commercial property;Consumer protection
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary of the Judgment
1. Agriculture — Uniform legislation — Protection of geographical indications and designations
of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs — Regulation No 2081/92 — Power of the
Member States to adopt derogations — Condition — Existence of an express rule — Amend­
ment of a registered designation, in breach of the Community procedure — Not permissible
(Council Regulation No 2081/92, Art. 17)
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SUMMARY — JOINED CASES C-129/97 AND C-130/97
2. Agriculture — Uniform legislation — Protection of geographical indications and designations
of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs — Compound designation registered pursu­
ant to the simplified procedure — Absence of any indication concerning a limit to the protec­
tion — Protection extending to all the terms in the designation — Conclusion not binding
(Council Regulation No 2081/92, Art 17; Commission Regulation No 1107/96)
1. Under the system introduced by Regu­
lation No 2081/92 on the protection of
geographical indications and designations
of origin for agricultural products and
foodstuffs, where Member States have the
power to adopt decisions, even of a pro­
visional nature, which derogate from the
provisions of the regulation, that power is
derived from express rules. Any alteration
of an element of the product specifica­
tion, such as the name of the product,
that is to say the registered designation of
origin, can therefore be procured only
within the framework of the Community
arrangements and procedures laid down
by the regulation.
Thus, since the entry into force of the
aforementioned regulation, and in the
case of a designation of origin for which a
Member State has requested registration
in accordance with the simplified pro­
cedure laid down in Article 17, which
applies to names already in existence
when the regulation entered into force,
the Member State in question may not,
by adopting provisions of national law,
alter that name and protect it at national
level.
2. As regards a 'compound' designation of
origin, registered in accordance with the
simplified procedure laid down in Article
17 of Regulation No 2081/92 on the pro­
tection of geographical indications and
designations of origin for agricultural
products and foodstuffs, the fact that
there is no footnote in the annex to Regu­
lation No 1107/96 specifying that regis­
tration is not sought for one of the parts
of that designation does not necessarily
mean that each of its constituent parts is
protected.
There is nothing in the latter regulation
to suggest that the use of the system of
footnotes has such a purpose. Further­
more, under the system of protection cre­
ated by Regulation No 2081/92, ques­
tions concerning the protection to be
accorded to the various constituent parts
of a name and, in particular, the question
whether a generic name or a protected
constituent part may be concerned, are
matters which fall for determination by
the national court on the basis of a
detailed analysis of the facts presented
before it by the parties concerned.
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