Another victory for the “Prosecco System” as the European Union Court says no to “PriSecco”

Prosecco is the driving force of Italian wine exports, found on tables around the world. It is as popular as it is imitated, starting with its name. Prosecco has been defending the correct use of its name for a very long time, and has consequently achieved significant victories in various cases. Following the successful case won in Poland, the members of the Prosecco System (Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Wine Consortium, Asolo Montello Wine Consortium, and Prosecco DOC Consortium, created to guarantee the correct use of the term “Prosecco” and the names protected by them in Italy and abroad), announced that “the General Court of the European Union has rejected the appeal of Manufaktur Jörg Geiger GmbH, confirming the the registration of the “PriSecco” trademark is not valid, as the Board of Appeal of the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) had previously ruled”. They added, “the PriSecco trademark, which calls to mind Prosecco DOC has been confirmed invalid for the third time. PriSecco had been registered at the European level by Manufaktur Jörg Geiger GmbH in 2015 for a fruit juice-based beverage. In 2020, the Consortium for the Protection of Prosecco DOC contested the trademark due to its obvious similarity to the Denomination, to avoid inappropriate associations between the two signs”. The Prosecco System explains that “in the first decision in 2022, EUIPO declared the trademark in question was invalid, acknowledging, among other things, that ‘Prosecco has become the most renowned sparkling wine in the European Union, alongside Champagne’ ”. Manufaktur Jörg Geiger GmbH subsequently appealed the ruling at the EUIPO Board of Appeal, which, however, dismissed the appeal in 2024. Then, the German company filed an appeal with the General Court of the European Union against EUIPO, seeking the annulment and amendment of the decision, and again obtaining a negative ruling. These facts have lead to the Court's decision, which, Sistema Prosecco emphasized, “confirmed that the Board of Appeal correctly applied the criteria establishing that it evokes the denomination name. They also pointed out that despite the lack of identical nature of the products, the strong visual and phonetic similarity between the signs, and the almost complete inclusion of the term Prosecco in the contested trademark justify that it does evoke the denomination. Therefore, the prior existence of a German registration for the same trademark claimed by Manufaktur Jörg Geiger GmbH was deemed irrelevant, while the global diffusion of the Prosecco name was recognized, and consequently the need to safeguard its integrity as well as the economic and cultural values it represents”. The case, however, might still have further developments because “from the date of publication of the decision, Manufaktur Jörg Geiger GmbH has two months to appeal to the Court of Justice. Sistema Prosecco will continue to carefully monitor the developments of the case, confirming its commitment to the International protection of denominations”. Giancarlo Guidolin, President of the Prosecco DOC Consortium, together with Presidents Franco Adami for Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG and Michele Noal for Asolo Prosecco DOCG, said, “this is an important victory for the entire Prosecco System. It is essential to prevent any violation to protect our production chains and also to protect consumers from any type of exploitation that could result from the fame of our products. Our goal is to continue to strengthen the protection of our denominations internationally”. Giancarlo Moretti Polegato, president of Sistema Prosecco, added, “PriSecco is one of the most well-known cases, and it joins a long list of attempted exploitation, such as “Primasecco”, “Perisecco”, and “Nosecco”. Our denominations have been and continue to be violated too frequently in various types of products and services. We will continue to work resolutely to fight these phenomena, safeguarding the quality and reputation of the entire production chain. Ours is a valuable legacy that has been built and earned over the years. This victory demonstrates that the three Consortiums work well together in their daily and joint commitment”.