Ukrainian Legislation

The Law of Ukraine “On Legal Protection of Geographical Indications” (2019) is basic in the field of GIs

The Law introduces following definitions:

• geographical indication
• appellation of origin

The law defines that the special aspects of preparation for registration, use and protection of geographical indications regarding agricultural products (agricultural goods), foodstuff, wines, aromatized wine products, spirit drinks, as well as control over such geographical indications shall be determined by other laws.

Law of Ukraine “On Legal Protection of Geographical Indications”

Article 1

Geographical indication – the name of place that identifies a product originating from a particular geographical place and having special quality, reputation or other characteristics stemming mainly from this geographical place of origin, provided that at least one of the stages of production (manufacture (extraction) and/or processing and/or preparation) takes place in a certain geographical area;

Appellation of origin –  a type of geographical indication meaning a name that identifies the product originating from a particular geographical place and having special qualities or properties, solely or mainly stemming from a certain geographical environment with characteristic natural and human factors, provided that all stages of its production (manufacture (extraction) and/or processing and/or preparation) take place in a certain geographical area;

GI protection

A registered geographical indication shall be protected against the following actions:

• any direct or indirect commercial use of a registered geographical indication for a product not covered by the registration of the geographical indication and is similar to a product for which a geographical indication is registered, or where such use causes the abuse of reputation of the geographical indication, including if such product is used as a component of another product;
• any misuse or imitation or other embodiment of a registered geographical indication, even if the true place of origin of the goods is indicated or if the registered indication is translated, transcribed or transliterated or accompanied by the words “style”, “type”, “method”, ”which is produced in”, “imitation”, “taste”, “similar”, etc., including if such product is used as a component of another product;
• any other false or misleading regarding the source, the nature or essential qualities of the goods, use of a geographical indication on the inner or outer packaging, advertising materials or documents relating to the goods in question, as well as the packaging of the product in a container which can mislead regarding its origin;
• any other use which may mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the goods.

Taking into account the interests of the interested producers and in order to prevent misleading the consumers regarding the nature of the goods, the geographical place of the goods origin or its boundaries, the registered homonymous geographical indications shall be used in accordance with the practical conditions of use jointly defined by the interested producers according to which such geographical indications shall differ from each other.

If the registered geographical indication is contained in the application for the issuance of a certificate of Ukraine for a trademark (label for goods and services) or in the relevant certificate, this shall be grounds for refusal to provide legal protection to the trademark (label for goods and services) or grounds for invalidation of the relevant certificate in the manner prescribed by law.

Protective measures regarding a registered geographical indication shall be taken by public authorities within their competence, as well as by persons entitled to use the registered geographical indication.

LABELLING

The persons entitled to use a registered geographical indication shall be entitled to place a warning marking next to the geographical indication to inform that this indication has been registered in Ukraine.

The abbreviation “НМП” enclosed in an oval shall be used for the warning marking of the appellation of origin of goods. Instead of this marking or along with it the following text may be inserted: “Appellation of origin of goods registered in Ukraine”.

The abbreviation “ГЗ” enclosed in an oval shall be used for the warning marking of the geographical indication. Instead of this marking or along with it the following text may be inserted: “Geographical indication registered in Ukraine”.