Wine Law

15 “Verlados” 31 for cider spirits, with regard to the DO “Gorgonzola” registered for cheese originating in Italy by the sign “Cambozola” for cheese produced in Germany 32 . 5) This objective and absolute protection of DO and GI supports only one temporal exception linked to the anteriority of the registration of the trademark over that of DO or GI. Indeed, Article 102.2 of EU Regulation 1308/2013 authorises the coexistence of a PDO or GI with a trademark that consists of or contains such designation for products that do not comply with the product specification concerned, provided such a trademark was registered or established by use in good faith, and if that possibility is provided for by the law concerned, in the territory of the Union either before the date of protection of the DO or GI in the country of origin, or before 1 January 1996. A similar provision has been introduced in Article 8.6 EUTMR. This exception is restrictive and the fact that the applicant is already the owner of national or European trademarks registered prior to the PDO is irrelevant and does not allow avoidance of the application of Article 7.1(j), irrespective of the reputation of the earlier trademarks. Thus, in “Tempos Vega Sicilia” case, the applicant claimed the existence of a link between its application and a trademarks family for “Vega Sicilia” in class 33, prior to the PDO Sicilia. The Court considered that the concept of trademarks family does not fall within the scope of absolute grounds for refusal, which requires an assessment of the application in view of its own characteristics. The strict application of the exception allows for the strengthening of the absolute grounds of nullity of Article 7.1(j) and of the mandatory link of the sign with the product whose designation is protected, whose application is completed by the recognition of traditional terms for wines and traditional specialities guaranteed as absolute grounds of nullity. I.4.2. A mandatory connection with the wine itself 1) Traditional term for wines and traditional speciality guaranteed are used to qualify a characteristic of a product. They are regulated terms, not industrial property rights. Indeed, a traditional term for wines is defined by Article 112 of EU Regulation 1308/2013 as: 31 See footnote 27. 32 ECJ 4 March 1999, Consorcio per la tutela del formaggio Gorgonzola C-87/97.