Article 13

Registered names shall be protected against: any direct or indirect commercial use of a registered name in respect of products not covered by the registration in so far as those products are comparable to the products registered under that name or in so far as using the name exploits the reputation of the protected name; any misuse, imitation or evocation, even if the true origin of the product is indicated or if the protected name is translated or accompanied by an expression such as ‘style’, ‘type’, ‘method’, ‘as produced in’, ‘imitation’ or similar; any other false or misleading indication as to the provenance, origin, nature or essential qualities of the product, on the inner or outer packaging, advertising material or documents relating to the product concerned, and the packing of the product in a container liable to convey a false impression as to its origin; any other practice liable to mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product. Where a registered name contains within it the name of an agricultural product or foodstuff which is considered generic, the use of that generic name on the appropriate agricultural product or foodstuff shall not be considered to be contrary to points (a) or (b) in the first subparagraph. Protected names may not become generic. In the case of names for which registration is applied for under Article 5, provision may be made for a transitional period of up to five years under Article 7(5), solely where a statement of objection has been declared admissible on the grounds that registration of the proposed name would jeopardise the existence of an entirely or partly identical name or the existence of products which have been legally on the market for at least five years preceding the date of the publication provided for in Article 6(2). A transitional period may also be set for undertakings established in the Member State or third country in which the geographical area is located, provided that the undertakings concerned have legally marketed the products in question, using the names concerned continuously for at least five years preceding the date of the publication referred to in Article 6(2) and have noted that point in the national objection procedure referred to in the first and second subparagraphs of Article 5(5) or the Community objection procedure referred to in Article 7(2). The combined total of the transitional period referred to in this subparagraph and the adjustment period referred to in Article 5(6) may not exceed five years. Where the adjustment period referred to in Article 5(6) exceeds five years, no transitional period shall be granted. Without prejudice to Article 14, the Commission may decide to allow, under the procedure provided for in Article 15(2), the coexistence of a registered name and an unregistered name designating a place in a Member State or in a third country where that name is identical to the registered name, provided that all the following conditions are met: the identical unregistered name has been in legal use consistently and equitably for at least 25 years before 24 July 1993; it is shown that the purpose of its use has not at any time been to profit from the reputation of the registered name and that the consumer has not been nor could be misled as to the true origin of the product; the problem resulting from the identical names was raised before registration of the name. The registered name and the identical unregistered name concerned may co-exist for a period not exceeding a maximum of 15 years, after which the unregistered name shall cease to be used. Use of the unregistered geographical name concerned shall be authorised only where the country of origin is clearly and visibly indicated on the label.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-08 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.