New rules in name game

Press, 26 November 1982, Page 18

New rules in name game

From

LIESL GRAZ,

in Geneva

A diplomatic conference that ended in Geneva late last month decreed a whole series of new rules on the

naming of products after places. Names of states are to be outlawed for use in trade marks - no more “cuir de russie” toilet water — and other geographical names will be subjected to stronger regulations. Naming products after places is a very old habit, and some of the names have become so common that their geographical origin has all but disappeared from conscious thinking. Suede leather from the French form of Sweden is one example; eau de cologne is another. Such names passed into the language so long ago that no one can seriously consider giving them any trade mark protection now. But others are trickier. Champagne, according to French thinking, is bubbly wine produced by double fer-

mentation in a strictly defined region of northern France, formerly the royal province of the same name. Twenty-five years ago-, the French won a court action in Britain that made it illegal to market a sparkling wine produced by the same process, but south of the Pyrenees, and call it Spanish champagne. The Czechs feel strongly that Pilsen is brewed in the town now spelled Plsen; for brewers everywhere, Pilsen has become a generic term for a light beer. The Israelis are unhappy to see oranges being put on ' the market labelled Jaffa when they have never been within a thousand miles of the old Arab port. .And the idea that cognac — not brandy — is being produced in the Soviet Union and sold.

A “grandfather” clause will exempt the names that already exist, and that were presumably adopted in good faith, from the new rule. The difficulties will come with the borderline cases. French experts, for example, would like to restrict the use of names like Cabernet, which

abroad, makes the French see red. The stricter new rules will not, obviously, do away with all the geographical denominations. Your butcher will still offer you a turkey at Christmas and you will be able to wash it down with Canada Dry, which has nothing to do with Canada, and - then write your thank you notes on the best watermarked Japan Post, manufactured by a Swiss papermill.

actually denotes a grape variety originally from - a specific region. •j Americans argue that Cabernet is not now geographically specific. Patna rice can, say the liberalists, come from Thailand just as well 'aS India. Not so, say the purists; Developing countries are not quite sure what to think. Just to make sure that ncrone takes advantage of their names while they are not looking, developing countries have asked for a special right to deposit their most prestigious ones in the International Name Bank, the list of reserved names that cant not be used by others whether or not the owners are working them at the present time. Originally, the proposal gave each country the right to deposit. 209 names; now, although more modest, .it will still give pause to those who invent new names for new products. Copyright - London Observer Service.