Marques 2016: GIs making a move into gTLD space

Geographical indications (GIs) are starting to make a successful move into the new generic top-level domain space, with new strings being added for domains including .wine and .vin.

On the first day of the Marques 30th Annual Conference, Alessandro Sciarra, trademark attorney at law firm Bird & Bird, said that “Prosecco has been protected in the domain name space”.

This is due to its increased popularity as a GI over the past few years.

In January this year, domain name registry company Donuts launched its .wine and .vin domain names for general registration.

The earlier two-month sunrise period saw more than 1,300 brand and trademark owners registering under the domains.

Sciarra added that the GI field is able to “explore new markets”, such as commercial deals between a brand and GI owner where they “combine forces”.

He then provided an  example of a successful agreement between Tesco and Italian parmesan brand Parmigiano-Reggiano, which married GI ingredients and a commercial brand.

This includes “co-existence on the label” and a collective mark, Sciarra said.

The  Marques 30th Annual Conference runs until Friday, September 23.