{"id":440,"date":"2021-04-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/2021\/04\/23\/more-than-name-trademark-significance-geographic-indications\/"},"modified":"2021-04-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T00:00:00","slug":"more-than-name-trademark-significance-geographic-indications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/trademarks\/more-than-name-trademark-significance-geographic-indications\/","title":{"rendered":"When It Is More Than Just a Name &#8211; Trademark Significance of Geographic Indications"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Issues of the geographic indications of products regularly turn up in the trademark context. Some well-known examples include COGNAC for brandy from France or ROQUEFORT for cheese manufactured from sheep&#8217;s milk only, and cured in the natural caves of the community of Roquefort, department of Aveyron, France. Notable U.S. geographic indications include Florida oranges, Idaho potatoes, and Washington State apples.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Geographic Indications<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Geographical indications are considered a subset of trademarks, and they serve similar functions as source identifiers and proof of the product\u2019s quality. As certification and collective marks, the <a href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/146\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">United States Patent and Trademark Office<\/a> protects geographical indications of either domestic or foreign origin through the trademark system.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the United States does not protect generic geographic terms for goods or services. A geographic term is considered generic when it is so widely used that consumers do not view the mark as a geographic indication, but rather as a category of goods and services.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Trademark Significance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Just last year, the <a href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/2061\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB)<\/a> found that \u201cgruyere\u201d is a generic name for a type of cheese and cannot be registered as a certification mark. <em>Int\u2019l Dairy Foods Assn. v. Interprofession du Gruy\u00e8re &amp; Syndicat Interprofessionel du Gruy\u00e8re<\/em>, No. 91232427 (T.T.A.B., entered August 5, 2020). In that case, Swiss and French associations sought registration of the certification mark to prevent the use of the term Gruyere for cheese that did not originate in the region of Gruy\u00e8re. The attempt was rejected after the TTAB found that consumers did not associate the term with the region.<\/p>\n<p>Another interesting example in the news recently is a dispute in Canada in which the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) is suing Macaloney\u2019s Caledonian Distillery in Saanich, a district municipality on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, for the use of the terms Caledonian and Macaloney. The SWA\u2019s enforcement policies center around the significance and renown of \u201cScotch Whiskey.\u201d In this particular dispute, the SWA argues that Scottish indications cannot be used about a product that is not produced in Scotland. According to the SWA\u2019s website, through its global enforcement activities, it will ensure that products do not take advantage of the reputation of Scotland\u2019s national drink.<\/p>\n<p>If you are concerned that the mark you chose may conflict with a geographic indication, contact an <a href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/676\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">IP lawyer<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/218\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Norris McLaughlin, P.A.<\/a> If you have any questions about this post or any related issue, please feel free to contact me at <a href=\"mailto:dmdefilippis@norris-law.com\">dmdefilippis@norris-law.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Issues of the geographic indications of products regularly turn up in the trademark context. Some well-known examples include COGNAC for brandy from France or ROQUEFORT for cheese manufactured from sheep&#8217;s milk only, and cured in the natural caves of the community of Roquefort, department of Aveyron, France. Notable U.S. geographic indications include Florida oranges, Idaho [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":441,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,298,46,299],"tags":[412,342],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v22.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When It Is More Than Just a Name - Trademark Significance of Geographic Indications - More Than Your Mark\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/trademarks\/more-than-name-trademark-significance-geographic-indications\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When It Is More Than Just a Name - Trademark Significance of Geographic Indications\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Issues of the geographic indications of products regularly turn up in the trademark context. Some well-known examples include COGNAC for brandy from France or ROQUEFORT for cheese manufactured from sheep&#8217;s milk only, and cured in the natural caves of the community of Roquefort, department of Aveyron, France. Notable U.S. geographic indications include Florida oranges, Idaho [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/trademarks\/more-than-name-trademark-significance-geographic-indications\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"More Than Your Mark\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-23T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/norrismclaughlin.com\/mtym\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2022\/12\/gold-globe.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1732\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1732\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Danielle M. 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