L 24/4
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
3.2.2022
(10)
In conclusion, in the opinion of the opponent, the registration of the name ‘Ceylon cinnamon’ would unduly protect as a geographical indication a plant name, which needs to be kept free in use.
In addition, following that registration, a significant share of goods available on the market should be renamed as it would no longer be allowed to use their established name, well known to the consumers, including the reference to the plant species Cinnamomum ceylanicum.
(11)
The applicant stated that in its view, there was no conflict between ‘Ceylon cinnamon’ and a plant name because the internationally accepted botanical name from which ‘Ceylon cinnamon’ is cropped is not Cinnamomum ceylanicum as the opponent asserted but Cinnamomum verum.
Cinnamomum zeylanicum or Cinnamomum ceylanicum are considered synonyms to Cinnamonum verum.
The name ‘Ceylon cinnamon’ does not therefore conflict with the name of the plant from which the product bearing the name is obtained.
In addition, the applicant pointed out that the name to be protected is not a plant name and that the name zeylanicum or ceylanicum is derived from the historical name of Ceylon.
(12)
The Commission has assessed the arguments provided in the reasoned statements of opposition and the information it received regarding the consultations between the interested parties.
(13)
The name ‘Ceylon cinnamon’ refers to a product which has distinctive qualities and characteristics, in particular as regards its strong organoleptic character.
In addition, the name enjoys a consolidated reputation.
It therefore meets the requirement for registration as Protected Geographical Indication.
(14)
In the Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) varieties database, the term ‘Ceylan’ which corresponds to the species having the Latin name Cinnamomum verum J. Presl. is registered in Mexico.
Several trade marks and denominations are registered in the varieties database that include the term ‘Ceylon’ or the term ‘cinnamon’ but none of them refers to the species Cinnamomum ceylanicum.
(15)
The ‘Guiding Principles of the German Food Code for spices and other seasonal ingredients’ bear limited evidential and legal value in a conflict between a name of a plant variety and a name to be registered in the EU register for protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.
(16)
The product to which the name applied for registration refers to, originates from Sri Lanka, whose former name of Ceylon continues to be widely and commonly known today.
Therefore, the name ‘Ceylon cinnamon’ cannot per se mislead consumers as to the origin of the product.
In accordance with Article 6(2) of Regulation EU No 1151/2012, the conditions of the conflict between the names and the risk of misleading the consumers are interlinked.
In the light of the above, the registration of the name ‘Ceylon cinnamon’ as protected geographical indication (PGI) may not infringe that provision.
(17)
Moreover, the Commission considers that the registration of ‘Ceylon cinnamon’ as a protected geographical indication would not prevent the use on labelling of the botanical name Cinnamomum zeylanicum or Cinnamomum ceylanicum or other synonyms of the botanical name for cinnamon products issued from plants having these botanical names and cultivated outside the geographical area, provided that the conditions listed in Article 42 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 are complied with and, in addition, provided that the label clearly shows the indication of the country of origin and does not include any further allusion to Sri Lanka.
This will, in addition, guarantee the correct information of consumers in comparison with the product marketed under the registered PGI.
(18)
Accordingly, the name ‘Ceylon cinnamon’ (PGI) should be entered in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications.
(19)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Agricultural Product Quality Policy Committee,