The Netherlands was not a party to the Madrid Agreement to combat false denominations of origin nor to the Lisbon Agreement to protect and register designations of origin. Under EC Regulation 2081/92, registered geographical indications are protected throughout the EU (Article 2). Under strict conditions, agricultural products or foodstuffs from third countries may be eligible for protection according to the EC Regulation (Article 12). General provisions protect all geographical indications regardless of origin against wrongful use (tort) and misleading advertising (see under questions 1, 2 and 4 above).
[Answer 1: Various national rules provide for the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin: (1) The Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek) protects against wrongful use of geographical indications by means of provisions regarding misleading advertisements. Misleading claims regarding the origin of products or services provided commercially constitute tort (Civil Code, Section 6:194). The civil court can impose compensations or injunctions. No further requirements to ensure protection against misleading claims are defined. (2) The Commodities Act (Warenwet) has a general provision that prohibits advertising for a commodity in the pursuance of a profession or trade in a way that is in violation of the provisions on the designation of the commodity’s origin (Commodities Act, Section 20, paragraph 1, concerning section 8, under c). Under a decree on the labelling of foodstuffs (Warenwetbesluit etikettering van levensmiddelen), pre-packaged food and drinks must indicate the place of origin or provenance to prevent buyers of the product from being misled as to the product’s true origin or provenance. (3) The Dutch Advertising Code was drawn up by the advertising branch for self-regulation. The Code contains a general provision (Section 7) stating that advertisements may not be misleading, notably with respect to a product’s origin or provenance. (4) The Benelux Trademark Law may provide some protection as to geographical indications that have been registered as collective brands (Section 19). The use of geographical indications in accordance with normal trade practice and in everyday language can, however, not be prevented. (5) In addition to the general protection as described above, there are various specific regulations that provide protection of geographical indications: (a) The Agricultural Produce Decree (Landbouwkwaliteitsbesluit geografische aanduidinge, oorsprongsbenamingen en specifiteitscertificering (LGAOS)) was adopted to implement Council Regulation 2081/92. Only registered geographical indications and designations of origin come under this decree. (b) Other agriculture quality regulations (for cheese products, for instance) and regulations adopted under the Industrial Organisation Act (the 1978 wine regulation for instance, laid down by the Central Commodity Board for Arable Products) provide for the use of geographical indications. Sometimes, this concerns the use of the Holland kwaliteit label. Regulations under the Industrial Organisation Act generally lay down the requirements products must meet if they wish to be provided with a certain geographical indication.]
[Answer 2: The protection provided under the Civil Code, Section 6:194, the Trademark Law and the Dutch Advertising Code applies to all commodities and services. Protection under the Commodities Act applies to all commodities. The Agricultural Produce Decree, the agriculture quality regulations and the regulations adopted under the Industrial Organisation Act only apply to agricultural produce and foodstuffs. Geographical indications not specifically protected under LGAOS enjoy protection under the above mentioned regulations.]
[Answer 4: The Civil Code, Section 6:194, recognises the protection of geographical indications required by Article 22 of the TRIPS Agreement: "Hij die omtrent goederen of diensten die door hem of degene ten behoeve van wie hij handelt in de uitoefening van een beroep of bedrijf worden aangeboden, een mededeling openbaar maakt of laat maken, handelt onrechtmatig, indien deze mededeling in een of meer opzichten misleidend is, zoals ten aanzien van: (...) de herkomst (...) van vervaardigen." ("He who, in the pursuance of a profession or trade, makes public or has made public a statement with respect to goods or services offered by him or on behalf of the person he acts for, acts wrongfully if this statement is misleading in one or more ways, with respect to, for instance, (...) the origin (...) of manufacture.") Protection against unfair competition is provided for by Section 6:162 of the Civil Code: "1. Hij die jegens een ander een onrechtmatige daad pleegt, welke hem kan worden toegerekend, is verplicht de schade die de ander dientengevolge lijdt, te vergoeden. "2. Als onrechtmatige daad worden aangemerkt een inbreuk op een recht en een doen of nalaten in strijd met een wettelijke plicht of met hetgeen volgens ongeschreven recht in het maatschappelijk verkeer betaamt, een en ander behoudens de aanwezigheid van een rechtvaardigingsgrond. "3. Een onrechtmatige daad kan aan de dader worden toegerekend, indien zij te wijten is aan zijn schuld of aan een oorzaak welke krachtens de wet of de in het verkeer geldende opvattingen voor zijn rekening komt." ("1. He who acts wrongfully towards another, for which action he can be held accountable, is obliged to compensate the other party for the damages suffered. "2. A wrongful act is a breach of another’s right and an act or failure to act which is in conflict with legal obligations or unwritten social mores, for which no justification exists. "3. He who commits a wrongful act may be held accountable if the act is the result of his own shortcoming or another cause which by law or in the general social view is his responsibility.")]