News on Geographical Indications and Trademarks

New Geographical Indication

The Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing has issued Resolution No. 549/2014, published in the Official Gazette on December 9, 2014, by which the Geographical Indication (GI) “MELON DE MEDIA AGUA, SAN JUAN” and its Production Protocol were registered and approved. The GI is restricted to a specific area of production, Media Agua, in the Province of San Juan.

The Resolution states the following:

1. The certificate evidencing the right to use the GI “MELON DE MEDIA AGUA, SAN JUAN” is issued on behalf of the Regulatory Council of such GI. The GI should only be used on melon originating from the recognized geographical area.
2. The Resolution approves the logo to commercialize the product protected by the GI, which must include the year and number of this resolution. The logo is the following:

Resolution No. 549/2014 also states that products identified with the GI MELON DE MEDIA AGUA, SAN JUAN must bear the Geographical Indication distinctive sign approved by Resolution No. 546/2011 of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing (please see “Geographical Indications for Agricultural and Food Products”, published in Marval News # 109 of September 30, 2011).

According to the regulation of Law No. 25,380 which provides the protection of GI for agricultural and food products, the Resolution must be notified to the National Institute of Industrial Property as well as to the corresponding national and/or international organizations.

This is the fifth GI that has been recognized for agricultural and food products since the passing of Law No. 25,380 (2001) as modified by Law No. 25,966 (2004).

“Acuicultura Argentina” Trademark

On February 6, 2015, Resolution No. 7/2015 was published in the Official Gazette. Under this resolution the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries authorized the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture to apply for the registration of the trademark “Acuicultura Argentina” (Argentine Aquaculture) and the following design:

In order to encourage and promote aquaculture, the Undersecretariat will grant the non-exclusive use of the trademark to small producers and small and medium-sized enterprises who must comply with the regulations to be set out by the Ministry.