(Source: Court of Justice of the EU)
Those designations are protected vis-à-vis prohibited conduct in respect of both products and
services
GB owns tapas bars in Spain and uses the sign CHAMPANILLO to designate and promote his
establishments. In his advertising, he uses an image of two champagne coupes containing a
sparkling beverage.
The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), an organisation which safeguards
the interests of champagne producers, brought an action before the Spanish courts seeking to
prohibit the use of the term champanillo (which in Spanish means ‘little champagne’) on the ground
that the use of that sign infringes the protected designation of origin (PDO) ‘Champagne’.
Upon appeal, the Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona (Provincial Court, Barcelona, Spain) requests
the Court of Justice to interpret EU law on the protection of products covered by a PDO where the
term champanillo is used in the course of trade to designate not products but services.