IP/N/1/CZE/5, IP/N/1/CZE/G/3

Czech Republic

Act No. 452/2001 Coll., on the protection of Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications, and on the amendment to the Consumer Protection Act, as amended ("Act on Geographical Indications")

The amendment brought the Czech national legislation in line with the implementing regulation of the EU after it acceded to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement (WIPO). At the same time, the exclusive competence of the EU in the field of designations of origin and geographical indications was taken into account in the scope of specific commodities according to directly applicable EU regulations. The Czech Republic has revised its legislation by adopting the amendment to the Act on the Protection of Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications and on the amendment to the Consumer Protection Act, which entered into force on August 6, 2022 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act on Geographical Indications"). The Amendment adapted the existing national law regulating the designations of origin and geographical indications in the Czech Republic to the Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on measures of the Union following its accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications. The proposed legislation also respects the conclusions of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU in case C-389/15 and the conclusions of the judgment in case C-24/20 Commission v. Council, which confirmed that aspects of intellectual property, including designations of origin and geographical indications, fall under the exclusive competence of the EU. The legislation respects the priority of the EU law over national law and revokes the national protection of designation of origin and geographical indications for agricultural products and foodstuffs, including wines and spirits, the protection of which is based on the directly applicable EU regulations. The national protection of designation of origin and geographical indications for non-agricultural products, which is not yet based on directly applicable EU regulations, remains regulated by the national law, i.e. Act on Geographical Indications.

https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/586942 (legal text in English) https://upv.gov.cz/files/uploads/PDF_Dokumenty/pravni_predpisy/narodni/452_2022_0608B.pdf (legal text in Czech) IP/N/1/EU/34 (Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on measures of the Union following its accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications)

Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic - International Affairs Department (Email: kdlabolova@upv.gov.cz) Ministry of Industry and Trade - Trade Policy Department

https://ip-documents.info/2023/IP/CZE/23_10041_00_e.pdf
https://ip-documents.info/2023/IP/CZE/23_10041_00_x.pdf