UTAD was responsible for activities aimed at strengthening the promotion of products benefiting from European quality systems on the Internet, and AREPO was responsible for activities aimed at strengthening the protection of Geographical Indications (GIs) on the Internet<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n AREPO has noted the lack of clear and concrete information on the existing means of protecting GIs on the Internet and has therefore decided to draw up a practical guide<\/span><\/strong> with the aim of providing operational tools<\/span> for the holders and legitimate users of geographical indications, in other words, GI producer groups and their members.<\/p>\n GIs, and more particularly PDOs and PGIs, occupy an important place in terms of exports for the countries of the European Union and are particularly affected by counterfeiting<\/strong> and cybersquatting<\/strong> because of their reputation and attractiveness, which are attracting growing interest from third parties<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Therefore, professionals who are legitimate holders of geographical indications must develop a complete<\/strong>, prudent and exhaustive defence strategy<\/strong>, in order to take advantage of the undeniable benefits of an Internet presence, while minimising the risks of infringements, which are often complex to contain.<\/p>\n This guide thus aims to provide deciphered<\/strong> and clarified<\/strong> information<\/span> on how the Internet works in terms of intellectual property law and to present the concrete steps<\/strong> to be taken<\/span> to effectively protect one\u2019s GI from an infringement on the Internet.<\/p>\n To carry out its work, AREPO called on experts and practitioners in intellectual property, specialised in French, Spanish and Portuguese regulations, i.e. the three countries covered by the project (Sudoe area).<\/p>\n The guide focuses more particularly on the procedures applicable to France<\/span><\/strong>, with some insights into the specific cases of Spain <\/strong>and Portugal<\/strong><\/span>. It is nevertheless relevant to all producer groups in the EU, given the similarities in the approaches and procedures of European countries in this area.<\/p>\n In order to identify more precisely the issues and needs of the organisations concerned and to draw up the most relevant guide possible, AREPO also collected information<\/strong> from producer groups and agri-food cooperatives in the EU by means of a survey<\/strong> developed for this purpose<\/span>. Almost 90 producer groups participated in the survey<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
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