How Does the United States Protect Geographical Indications?
The United States’ GI system uses administrative trademark structures already in place, and provides opportunities for any interested party to oppose or cancel a registered GI if that party believes that it will be damaged by the registration or continued existence of a registration. The same governmental authority (the United States Patent and Trademark Office or “USPTO”) processes applications for both trademarks and GIs. The United States does not protect geographic terms or signs that are generic for goods/services. A geographic term or sign is considered “generic” when it is so widely used that consumers view it as designating a category of all of the goods/services of the same type, rather than as a geographic origin. As an example, the word “apple” cannot be protected as a trademark for apples because the word “apple” is the generic name for the fruit. Many countries, such as the United States, do not protect generic indications because they are believed to be incapable of ident
