At the Request of Sakpatenti, Unlawful Use of Geographical Indication “Sulguni” was Suppressed in Germany

It became known to the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia that unlawful use of the protected Georgian geographical indication of cheese “Sulguni” occurred on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany. In particular, cheese called “Suluguni” was sold in several trading networks of Germany. Sakpatenti, in coordination with the Embassy of Georgia in the Federal Republic of Germany, took appropriate measures, after which the products labelled as “Sulugini” were removed from the supermarket networks “LEDO” and “ROSSIA”.

In order to respond to the infringement, on January 20, 2023 Sakpatenti applied in writing to the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) of the European Commission. At the request of the Commission, the relevant agencies of the Republic of Germany studied the case. As a result, to prevent the unauthorized use and distribution of the Georgian geographical indication in Germany, they carried out necessary measures and removed the infringing products from the above-mentioned supermarket networks. 

On the territory of the European Union, Georgian appellations of origin and geographical indications are protected on the basis of the Association Agreement signed between the European Union and Georgia, within which the parties mutually recognize and protect geographical indications and in case of infringement of rights they carry out relevant administrative measures. 

Geographical indication “Sulguni” was registered in Georgia on January 24, 2012. Since September 1, 2014, it is protected on the territory of the European Union on the basis of the bilateral agreement.  It is admissible to label the product with the indication “Sulguni” only if it made in compliance with the strictly defined specifications.

Sakpatenti is actively involved in the issues of protection of Georgian appellations of origin and geographical indications abroad to suppress facts of infringement of rights on Georgian geographical indications and appellations of origin and damaging of their reputation.