{"id":1807,"date":"2026-07-30T11:43:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T09:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/?p=1807"},"modified":"2026-07-30T11:43:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T09:43:23","slug":"geographical-indications-for-craft-and-industrial-products-a-new-european-intellectual-property-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/2026\/07\/30\/geographical-indications-for-craft-and-industrial-products-a-new-european-intellectual-property-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Geographical Indications for Craft and Industrial Products: A New European Intellectual Property Right?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the entry into force of Italian Legislative Decree No. 51 of 2 April 2026<\/strong>, implementing Regulation (EU) 2023\/2411<\/strong>, the European Intellectual Property system has been enriched by a new form of protection that is expected to have a significant impact on the enhancement and promotion of regionally rooted manufacturing excellence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time, the European Union has established a unitary system for the protection of Geographical Indications (GIs)<\/strong> applicable to craft and industrial products, extending a form of protection that had traditionally been reserved for agricultural and food products to goods whose economic and reputational value derives from their connection with a specific geographical area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This legislative development is particularly significant also from the perspective of the Italian Intellectual Property system. Although Geographical Indications had already been recognised by the Italian Industrial Property Code<\/strong> as rights eligible for legal protection, the relevant legal framework had historically been associated with designations of origin and Geographical Indications relating to agricultural and food products. The entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2023\/2411<\/strong> and Legislative Decree No. 51\/2026<\/strong> substantially broadens the scope of this protection by extending it to craft and industrial products and by granting them a uniform European framework of protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The significance of this legislative reform goes well beyond the promotion of the Made in Italy<\/strong> label. It raises a broader and highly relevant systemic question for Intellectual Property practitioners: do the new Geographical Indications for craft and industrial products merely extend the legal model traditionally applicable to agricultural products, or do they constitute a new European Intellectual Property right<\/strong>, capable of standing alongside trademarks, patents and design rights?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Historical Gap in the European System<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2023\/2411<\/strong>, the European system of Geographical Indications displayed a clear structural asymmetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While agricultural products, wines and spirit drinks benefited from a harmonised supranational system of protection, craft and industrial products lacked any equivalent European legal framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, products of outstanding cultural and economic value\u2014such as Murano artistic glass<\/strong>, artistic ceramics, traditional coral craftsmanship, leather goods and numerous other regionally distinctive products<\/strong>\u2014could only rely on heterogeneous legal instruments, including collective marks, certification marks or national protection schemes, many of which proved ineffective beyond the borders of their country of origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a fragmented framework had become increasingly inconsistent with the evolution of the modern economy, in which the competitive value of products is more and more closely linked to the reputation developed over time through a combination of territorial identity, cultural heritage and long-standing manufacturing traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geographical Indications as an Intellectual Property Right<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the reform lies in its systematic integration into the architecture of European Intellectual Property law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Geographical Indications do not merely perform a promotional function or serve to enhance the value of regional products. Rather, they confer upon eligible producers an exclusive right<\/strong> to use the protected designation, enforceable against third parties and protected against unlawful use, evocation, imitation and other forms of unfair commercial exploitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recognition of Geographical Indications as objects of protection within the field of Intellectual Property is not entirely new under Italian law. Article 1 of the Italian Industrial Property Code<\/strong> expressly includes Geographical Indications and designations of origin among Industrial Property rights, alongside trade marks, patents, industrial designs and utility models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has changed significantly with Regulation (EU) 2023\/2411<\/strong> is the scope of that protection. From an institution traditionally associated with the agri-food sector, the Geographical Indication has evolved into a legal instrument capable of protecting a much broader range of craft and industrial products whose value is rooted in an established territorial reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Particularly noteworthy is the European legislator’s decision to entrust the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)<\/strong> with the management of the supranational phase of the registration procedure. This is far more than a merely administrative choice. It clearly reflects the intention to integrate the new regime into the same institutional framework that governs European Union Trademarks (EUTMs)<\/strong> and Registered Community Designs (RCDs)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting a Collective Intangible Asset<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Geographical Indications<\/strong> differ from traditional Intellectual Property rights in the very nature of the legal interest they protect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patents, trademarks and design rights confer exclusive rights upon identifiable legal entities. Geographical Indications, by contrast, operate according to a fundamentally different rationale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protected subject matter is neither an individual creation nor a distinctive sign belonging to a single economic operator. Rather, it consists of a collective manufacturing heritage<\/strong>, generated through the interaction of traditional craftsmanship, technical know-how, human expertise and the distinctive characteristics of a particular geographical area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accordingly, the protected economic value stems from the reputation progressively built by an entire manufacturing community over time, rather than from the activity of a single right holder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Relationship with Collective Marks and Certification Marks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many years, collective marks<\/strong> and certification marks<\/strong> have represented the principal legal instruments for promoting and protecting non-agricultural regional products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While their functional affinity with the new Geographical Indications<\/strong> is evident, a fundamental structural difference remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under a certification mark, geographical origin constitutes merely one of the characteristics capable of being certified. By contrast, under a Geographical Indication, the link between the product and its geographical origin constitutes the very foundation of legal protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reputation of the product is therefore not simply certified by an independent body; rather, it is legally recognised and protected as the expression of a long-standing and substantial relationship between the product and its place of origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Future Practical Challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entry into force of Legislative Decree No. 51\/2026<\/strong> marks the beginning of a new phase, which will be shaped by the development of administrative practice and the emergence of the first judicial disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the issues likely to attract particular attention are the relationship between the new Geographical Indications and earlier trademarks, the coordination between individual exclusive rights and collective territorial interests, protection against evocation<\/strong> and free-riding practices<\/strong>, as well as the legal role of product specifications and control mechanisms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this respect, the principles already embodied in the Italian Industrial Property Code<\/strong> will play a particularly significant role. Article 14 of the Code, for instance, precludes the registration of signs liable to mislead the public, particularly as regards the geographical origin of goods or services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practical application of the new Geographical Indications for craft and industrial products will therefore provide an important opportunity to assess how the principles developed in the fields of trademark law, Geographical Indications and unfair competition will interact with, and be integrated into, the new European legal framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The introduction of the European system for the protection of Geographical Indications for craft and industrial products<\/strong> represents one of the most significant developments in European Industrial Property law in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than merely extending the system of Geographical Indications traditionally reserved for agricultural and food products, Regulation (EU) 2023\/2411<\/strong> appears to give legal recognition to a new category of intangible assets<\/strong>: those generated by the manufacturing identity and collective reputation of local territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should this evolution be confirmed by the administrative practice of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)<\/strong> and by future European case law, the new Geographical Indications<\/strong> may well acquire an autonomous role alongside trademarks<\/strong>, patents<\/strong> and design rights<\/strong>, thereby contributing to a redefinition of the very concept of Industrial Property<\/strong> within an economy increasingly driven by reputation, territorial identity and the value of Made in Italy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against this background, it would not be excessive to argue that Regulation (EU) 2023\/2411<\/strong> and Italian Legislative Decree No. 51\/2026<\/strong> have inaugurated a new evolutionary phase in Industrial Property law, in which legal protection extends beyond innovation, creativity and distinctiveness to encompass the collective reputational heritage<\/strong> generated by local manufacturing communities and their territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S.T.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the entry into force of Italian Legislative Decree No. 51 of 2 April 2026, implementing Regulation (EU) 2023\/2411, the European Intellectual Property system has been enriched by a new form of protection that is expected to have a significant impact on the enhancement and promotion of regionally rooted manufacturing excellence. For the first time, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[240,239,241,200],"class_list":["post-1807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-made-in-italy","tag-certification-marks","tag-collective-marks","tag-craft-and-industrial-products","tag-geographical-indications"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1807"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1808,"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1807\/revisions\/1808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.osservatorio-ip.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}