Gugushev & Partners Law Office is pleased to inform you that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled by a reasoned Order in respect to a preliminary ruling submitted by the Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation regarding our case with the client Conservinvest. The Order fully confirms the positon we have defended for years that registration of a geographical indication for an agricultural product or food is not admissible at national level, but only at an European.

Since 2014, a lawsuit has been filed against our client Conservinvest by another producer of a typical Bulgarian tomato spread (“lijutenica”), who is suing for damages due to our client using its own trademark, by registering at a national level a geographical indication for ljutenica. Our team of experts, namely Mr. Petko Angelov, Senior Partner, and Mrs. Yoanna Ivanova, Partner, defended the position that a national registration of a geographical indication for an agricultural product or food infringes EU law.

Initially, this position was not accepted by institutions and courts and a few years ago even a decision by the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court, which rejected our position was issued.

In spite of that, we continued to search for a way to protect the interests of our client and on account of the in-depth expertise of our intellectual property professionals, as well as the full trust of our client, we reached this reasoned Order, which not only makes it impossible to claim damages on the basis of the Bulgarian Law on Trademarks and Geographical Indications, but it also implies a change in the current practice of the Bulgarian Patent Office in this particular area. As it becomes clear from the reasoning in the CJEU  Order, this will lead to a "uniform and comprehensive regime for the protection of such names and indications" and will establish "the principle of fair competition between producers of products bearing these indications or symbols".

For the team of Gugushev & Partners Law Office, this is a professional success, which not only proves that hard work, long-term efforts and innovative approach lead to positive results, but also brings us satisfaction that we managed to fully defend the interests of our client and to support the correct and uniform application of European law through the skillful use of instruments for supranational protection of rights!

You can read the reasoned Order HERE.