Changes from adopted text to adopted text

RemovedArticle 17 – paragraph 4: 4. Where, based on the examination carried out pursuant to paragraph 1, the Commission considers that the conditions laid down in this Regulation and in Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 and (EU) 2019/787, as appropriate, are fulfilled, it shall publish in the Official Journal of the European Union the single document and the reference to the publication of the product specification.

RemovedArticle 17 – paragraph 5: deleted

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 1: 1. Member States shall immediately inform the Commission of any national administrative or judicial proceedings that may affect the registration of a geographical indication.

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 2 – introductory part: 2. The Commission shall be exempted from the obligation to meet the deadline to perform the examination referred to in Article 17(2) where it receives a communication from a Member State, concerning an application for registration in accordance with Article 9(6), which:

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 2 – point b: (b) requests the Commission to suspend the examination because national administrative or judicial proceedings have been initiated to challenge the validity of the application and the Member State considers that those proceedings are based on valid grounds. / The Commission shall inform the applicant of the reasons for the delay.

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 3: 3. The exemption provided for in paragraph 2 shall have effect until the Commission is informed by the competent authority of the Member State that the original application has been restored or that the Member State withdraws its request for suspension.

RemovedArticle 18 – paragraph 4: 4. If the application has been invalidated by a final decision taken by a national court, the competent authority of the Member State shall consider appropriate action such as withdrawal or modification of the Union application for registration, as necessary.

RemovedArticle 19 – paragraph 1: 1. Within 3 months from the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the single document and the reference to the product specification pursuant to Article 17(4), the authorities of a Member State or of a third country, or a natural or legal person having a legitimate interest, established or resident in a third country, may lodge an opposition with the Commission.

RemovedArticle 19 – paragraph 2: 2. Any natural or legal person having a legitimate interest, established or resident in a Member State other than the one from which the Union application for registration was submitted, may lodge an opposition with the Member State, in which it is established or resident, within a time limit permitting an opposition to be lodged pursuant to paragraph (1).

RemovedArticle 19 – paragraph 4: 4. The Commission shall examine the admissibility of the opposition. If the Commission considers that the opposition is admissible, it shall, within 5 months from the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and, within 30 days from the date of receipt of that opposition, invite the authority or the person that lodged the opposition and the authority or the applicant producer group that lodged the application, in writing, to engage in appropriate consultations for a reasonable period that shall not exceed 3 months. At any time during that period, the Commission may, at the request of the authority or the applicant producer group, extend the deadline for the consultations by a maximum of 3 months.

RemovedArticle 19 – paragraph 6: 6. Within 1 month from the end of the consultations referred to in paragraph (4), the applicant producer group established in the third country or the competent authorities of the Member State or of the third country from which the Union application for registration was lodged shall notify the Commission of the result of the consultations, including all the information exchanged, whether agreement was reached with one or all of the opponents, and of any consequent changes to the application for registration. The authority or person that lodged an opposition to the Commission may also notify the Commission of its position at the end of the consultations.

RemovedArticle 19 – paragraph 7: 7. Where, following the end of the consultations referred to in paragraph (4), the data published in accordance with Article 17(4) have been modified, the Commission shall repeat its examination of the application for registration as modified. Where the application for registration has been modified in a substantial manner, and the Commission considers that the modified application meets the conditions for registration, it shall publish the application once more in accordance with that paragraph.

RemovedArticle 19 – paragraph 9: 9. After completion of the opposition procedure, the Commission shall finalise its assessment of the Union application for registration, taking into account any request for transitional periods, the outcome of the opposition procedure, and any other matters arising subsequently to its examination that may imply a change of the single document.

RemovedArticle 19 – paragraph 10: 10. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 84 supplementing this Regulation by detailed procedures and deadlines for the opposition procedure, for the official submission of comments by national authorities and persons with a legitimate interest, which will not trigger the opposition procedure.

RemovedArticle 20 a (new): Article 20a / Notice of comment procedure / 1. In order to correct inaccuracies in an ongoing registration procedure for a geographical indication, a competent authority of a Member State or of a third country, or a natural or legal person having a legitimate interest and established or resident in a third country or in another Member State, may lodge a notice of comment with the Commission within three months from the date of publication of the single document and the product specification reference in the Union register. / 2. The notice of comment referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be based on the grounds for opposition referred to in Article 19. The competent authority or person that lodges a notice of comment shall not be considered to be a party to the procedure. / 3. The Commission shall share the notice of comment with the applicant and shall take the notice of comment into consideration when deciding on the application of the registration, unless it is unclear or obviously incorrect. / 4. In order to facilitate the management of the notice of comment procedure, the Commission may adopt implementing acts laying down rules on the submission of such notice of comments and specifying their format and online presentation. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 53(2).

RemovedArticle 21 – paragraph 3 – introductory part: 3. The Commission may adopt implementing acts extending the transitional period granted under paragraph (1) up to 15 years, provided it is additionally shown that:

RemovedArticle 21 – paragraph 5: 5. When using a designation referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3, the indication of the country of origin shall clearly and visibly appear on the labelling and, where applicable, on the production description when it is marketed on an online sales website.

RemovedArticle 21 – paragraph 6: 6. To overcome temporary difficulties with the long-term objective of ensuring that all producers of a product designated under a geographical indication in the area concerned comply with the related product specification, a Member State may grant a transitional period for compliance, of up to 10 years, with effect from the date on which the application is registered with the Commission, provided that the operators concerned have legally marketed the products in question, using the names concerned continuously for at least 5 years preceding the lodging of the application to the authorities of that Member State and have referred to that fact in the national opposition procedure referred to in Article 9(4).

RemovedArticle 22 – paragraph 1: 1. Where, on the basis of the information available to the Commission from the examination carried out pursuant to Article 17, the Commission considers that any of the requirements referred therein is not fulfilled, it shall adopt implementing acts rejecting the application for registration. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 53(2).

RemovedArticle 22 – paragraph 2: 2. Where it receives no admissible opposition, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts, without applying the procedure referred to in Article 53(2), registering the geographical indication.

RemovedArticle 22 – paragraph 3 – introductory part: 3. Where it receives an admissible and grounded opposition, the Commission shall, following the consultations referred to in Article 19(4) and taking into account the results thereof:

RemovedArticle 22 – paragraph 5: 5. Regulations of registration and decisions on rejection shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L series and in the Union register of geographical indications.

RemovedArticle 23 – paragraph 1: 1. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts, without applying the procedure referred to in Article 53(2), containing provisions on establishing and maintaining an electronic register of geographical indications protected under this Regulation (the ‘Union register of geographical indications’), which shall be made easily accessible to the public and in a machine-readable format as defined in Article 2, point (13), of Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council.1a The register shall have three parts corresponding to geographical indications of wine, of spirit drinks and of agricultural products respectively. / 1a Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on open data and the re-use of public sector information (OJ L 172, 26.6.2019, p. 56).

RemovedArticle 23 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. The EUIPO shall maintain and keep the Union register up-to-date with respect to registrations, amendments and cancellations of geographical indications.

RemovedArticle 23 – paragraph 3: 3. Geographical indications concerning products from third countries that are protected in the Union under an international agreement to which the Union is a contracting party may be entered in the Union register of geographical indications. The Commission shall register such geographical indications by means of implementing acts adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 53(2) and shall make public the criteria used to decide upon the geographical indications protected under the relevant international agreement. As regards wine and agricultural products, unless specifically identified in those agreements as protected designations of origin, the names of such products shall be entered in the Union register of geographical indications as protected geographical indications.

RemovedArticle 23 – paragraph 5: 5. The EUIPO shall make public and, in the case of changes, update the list of the international agreements referred to in paragraph (3) as well as the list of geographical indications protected under those agreements.

RemovedArticle 23 – paragraph 6: 6. The Commission shall retain documentation related to the registration of a geographical indication in digital or paper form. In the case of cancellation or rejection, the Commission shall retain documentation for 10 years thereafter.

RemovedArticle 23 – paragraph 6 a (new): 6a. Once a new geographical indication or the modification of a previous geographical indication has been entered by the EUIPO in the Union register of geographical indications, the Commission shall, in its capacity as Competent Authority within the meaning of Article 3 of the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications (the ‘Geneva Act’), file an application for the international registration of the geographical indication thus entered in the Union register of geographical indications and which pertains to a product originating in the Union pursuant to Article 5(1) and (2) of the Geneva Act with the International Bureau of the World Organization for Intellectual Property. The fees to be paid under Article 7 of the Geneva Act, as specified in the Common Regulations under the Lisbon Agreement and the Geneva Act, shall be borne by the Member State in which that geographical indication originates.

RemovedArticle 23 – paragraph 7: deleted

RemovedArticle 24 – paragraph 1: 1. Any person shall be able to easily and free of charge download an official extract from the Union register of geographical indications that provides proof of registration or rejection of the geographical indication, and other relevant data including the date of application for the registration of the geographical indication or other priority date. The official extract shall be prepared in a machine-readable format as defined in Article 2, point (13), of Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council1a. That official extract may be used as an authentic certificate in legal proceedings, in a court of law, court of arbitration or similar body. / 1a Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on open data and the re-use of public sector information (OJ L 172, 26.6.2019, p. 56).

RemovedArticle 24 – paragraph 2: 2. Where a producer group has been recognised by the national authorities, or by a third country authority, in accordance with Article 33, that group shall be identified as the representative of producers of a product designated by a geographical indication in the Union register of geographical indications and in the official extract referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article.

RemovedArticle 24 – paragraph 3: 3. The Commission may adopt implementing acts setting out the online presentation of extracts from the Union register of geographical indications and which machine-readable format is to be used, and providing for the exclusion or anonymisation of protected personal data. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 53(2).

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 1: 1. A recognised producer group may apply for the approval of an amendment to the product specification of a registered geographical indication.

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. Where a recognised producer group does not exist, a producer group having a legitimate interest or a single producer which is the only producer of a geographical indication may apply for the approval of an amendment to the product specification of a registered geographical indication.

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 3 – introductory part: 3. An amendment shall be considered as a Union amendment if it entails a change of the single document and:

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 3 – point a: (a) includes a change in the name; or

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 3 – point b: (b) where the scrutiny carried out by the relevant Member State under paragraph 2, point (b), has concluded that that amendment might void the link to the geographical area referred to in the single document; or

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 5: 5. A temporary amendment shall be considered as a standard amendment when it concerns a temporary change in the product specification resulting from the imposition of obligatory sanitary and phytosanitary measures by the public authorities or a temporary amendment necessary because of the consequences of a natural disaster, adverse weather, geopolitical events or any other exceptional conditions formally recognised by the competent authorities.

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 6: 6. Union amendments shall be assessed and approved by the Commission within three months from the application for the approval of an amendment to the product specification of a registered geographical indication. / Without prejudice to the first subparagraph of this paragraph, the approval procedure shall follow, mutatis mutandis, the procedure laid down in Articles 8 to 22. / Where the amendments concern the product specifications of a geographical indication registered in the International Register, Article 23(6a) shall apply, mutatis mutandis.

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 7: 7. Applications for Union amendments submitted by a third country, by producer groups or, in exceptional and duly justified cases, by individual producers established in a third country shall contain proof that the requested amendment complies with the laws on the protection of geographical indications in force in that third country.

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 8: 8. If an application for a Union amendment to the product specification of a registered geographical indication also includes standard amendments or temporary amendments, the Commission shall examine the Union amendment only. Any standard amendments or temporary amendments shall be deemed as not having been submitted. The examination of such applications shall focus on the proposed Union amendments.

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 9: 9. Standard amendments shall be assessed and approved by Member States or third countries in whose territory the geographical area of the product concerned is located and communicated to the Commission. The Commission shall make those amendments public by publishing them in the Official Journal of the European Union and in the Union register of geographical indications.

RemovedArticle 25 – paragraph 10: deleted

RemovedArticle 26 – paragraph 1 – point b: (b) where no product has been placed on the market under the geographical indication in the preceding seven consecutive years.

RemovedArticle 26 – paragraph 2: 2. The Commission may adopt implementing acts cancelling the registration at the request of producer group representing a majority of the producers of the product marketed under the registered name.

RemovedArticle 26 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. The use and the protection of the registered name as another intellectual property right, in particular as a trade mark, shall be prohibited for 10 years after the cancellation of the registration of a geographical indication, unless such intellectual property right had existed, or such a trademark had been registered, before the registration of the geographical indication.

RemovedArticle 26 – paragraph 6: deleted

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) any direct or indirect commercial use of the geographical indication in respect of products not covered by the registration, where those products are comparable to the products registered under that name or where use of a name exploits, weakens, dilutes, or is detrimental to the reputation of, the protected name, including where those products are used as ingredients;

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 1 – point b: (b) any misuse, counterfeiting, imitation or evocation, even if the true origin of the products or services is indicated or if the protected name is translated transcribed, transliterated or accompanied by an expression such as ‘style’, ‘type’, ‘method’, ‘as produced in’, ‘imitation’, ‘flavour’, ‘like’ or similar, including where those products are used as ingredients;

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 1 – point c: (c) any other false or misleading indication as to the provenance, origin, nature or essential qualities of the product that is used on the inner or outer packaging, advertising material, documents or information provided on websites or on domain names relating to the product concerned, and the packing of the product in a container liable to convey a false impression as to its origin;

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 2: deleted

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 4 – point a: (a) goods entering the customs territory of the Union without being released for free circulation within that territory;

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 4 – point a a (new): (aa) goods produced in the Union and destined to be exported to and marketed in third countries; and

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 4 a (new): 4a. Where the geographical indication contains one or more non-generic terms, the use of one, some or all of them in the same or in a different order from the one registered shall constitute one of the types of conduct referred to in paragraph 1, points (a) and (b).

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 5: 5. The group of producers or any operator that is entitled to use the protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication shall be entitled to prevent all third parties from bringing goods, in the course of trade, into the Union without being released for free circulation there, where such goods, including packaging, come from third countries and are in breach of paragraph (1).

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 7: 7. Where a geographical indication is a compound name which contains a term which is considered to be generic, the use of that term shall not constitute, as a general rule, a conduct referred to inparagraph (1), points (a) and (b).

RemovedArticle 27 – paragraph 7 a (new): 7a. Each Member State shall take appropriate administrative and judicial steps to prevent or stop the unlawful use of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications, as provided for in paragraph 1, that are produced or marketed in that Member State. To that end, Member States shall designate the authorities that are responsible for taking those steps in accordance with procedures determined by each individual Member State. Those authorities shall provide adequate guarantees of objectivity and impartiality, and shall have at their disposal the qualified staff and resources necessary to carry out their functions.

RemovedArticle 28 – paragraph 1: 1. The name of a geographical indication used by operators in conformity with Article 36 to indicate that as an ingredient in a processed product may be referred to in the list of ingredients, provided that such use complies with Article 27, that it is made in accordance with honest commercial practices and does not weaken, dilute or is not detrimental to the reputation of the geographical indication, and that it complies with the applicable provisions of Regulation (EU) 2019/787 in respect of spirit drinks.

RemovedArticle 28 – paragraph 2: 2. The geographical indication designating a product ingredient shall not be used in the food name, labelling except the list of ingredients, packaging device or advertising of the related processed product, except in cases of the existence of an agreement in writing including control provisions concluded with the recognised producer group, or, where such a group does not exist, the producer group representing a majority of producers, which may establish minimum conditions for the fair usage of the name.

RemovedArticle 28 – paragraph 3: deleted