N. Coppola – Viiniverla: too much ‘ado’ about nothing [2016] 11(6) Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice, pp. 406-408

The case comment focuses on the recent Viiniverla Case (C-75/15, Second Chamber, 21 January 2015) in the context of Geographical Indications (GIs).

The case concluded that the drink name ‘Verlados’ is in breach of the GI Regulation on spirits and must be changed to comply with EU law. In arriving at this conclusion the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) adopted a broad interpretation of the term ‘evocation’ with regard to GIs in relation to names of sprits. The CJEU established that the ‘ados’ in ‘Verlados’ evokes the word ‘Calvados’, a drink name protected under the GI Regulation, making its alluding use unlawful under EU law.

A full text of this article can be found here.