Wine Law

2 The Italian national legal system, also thanks to the achievements of the EU Regulations, tries to actively support and enhance this impressive cultural and economic heritage. In particular, in this connection, a significant role is played by intellectual property, which constitutes a fundamental instrument for enhancing the protection of the local excellences and for attributing the due value to the relevant products. Namely, thanks to intellectual property, it is possible to protect also trade secrets and know-how, which are very important complementary assets, in the wine field, necessary to strengthen the fight against misappropriation, as well as unlawful exploitation of IP titles, which help the identification of wines. Moreover, today trademarks have acquired another role, other than that of indicating the source of origin of goods, since they are also important communication tools, apt at conveying different messages, including traditional values, inherent to wine industry. This principle is even truer for collective trademarks, which spread their effects to all the members of the relevant association, owner of the brand. Then, besides individual and collective trademarks, it is worth mentioning the so-called “quality brands” and, namely, the designations of origin and the geographical indications, which mainly play a guarantee function of the geographical origin, concerning the nature and the quality of certain products. 2. Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin Specifically, geographical indications and designations of origin identify the production of certain regions, with precise qualitative and productive characteristics and strict requirements, in order to promote and preserve the quality of wine productions and also protecting consumers in their daily choice, allowing them to consciously select among different products. Indeed, wines bearing a geographical indication or a designation of origin are recognised by consumers as valuable products, with significant qualitative characteristics, which largely depend on the territory of origin. The regulation of geographical indications and designations of origin comes from an active and fruitful interaction between EU Regulations and Directives and national laws, which have been trying to adapt the general EU rules to the specific and unique features of the wine sector in Italy.