TRADEMARK | The EU General Court on the trademark application “NERO CHAMPAGNE”

On 27 June 2024, the General Court of the European Union (“GC”) issued its decision in case T-76/23 (Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne, INAO v EUIPO) and annulled the decision of the EUIPO, thereby rejecting the application of the trademark “NERO CHAMPAGNE” for certain goods and services, including “wine complying with the specification of the protected designation of origin (PDO) ‘Champagne’’. The application, filed by the Italian company Nero Lifestyle, was opposed by the Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (“CIVC”) and the Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité (“INAO”). The GC noted that the relevant EU law on geographical indications (“GIs”) for wines (Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013) provides that PDOs may form part of trademarks insofar as such trademarks are not registered for products not complying with GI specifications  and its use does not exploit the reputation of the PDO or if the trademark applied misleads consumers as to the origin of the product. The GC found that EUIPO had erred in law by treating the compliance with the PDO specification as automatically excluding any undue advantage and failed to assess the opponents’ evidence adequately. Furthermore, the GC held that the term “NERO” (meaning “black” in Italian) could mislead consumers into believing the product is a “black champagne”, namely a colour or grape variety not permitted under the Champagne PDO, which only allows white or rosé wines.

Newsletter n. 109 – July 2025