Melton Mowbray and the Gi Pie in the Sky: Exploring Cartographies of Protection

Abstract

The Melton Mowbray Pork Pie litigation provides an invaluable opportunity to revisit the foundations of registered Geographical Indications (GIs), one of the more obscure intellectual property rights in existence today. An association of pie producers sought to register the name as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) under EC Regulation 2081/92, thereby gaining exclusive rights to the term. The application was challenged and one of the key issues was the controversial boundary drawing process to delimit the authorised production area. The dispute is presently on hold, pending a reference to the ECJ. Regulation 2081/92 is a compromise informed by two sets of national experiences. It exists at the intersection of French commitments to GI protection based on the registered Appellation d'Origine Controlee, which emerges from the history of wine regulation and the German regime, which is unregistered and grounded predominantly in Unfair Competition Law. This paper argues that the incomplete reconciliation results in a serious structural gap in the Regulation and Melton Mowbray falls into it. It concludes by suggesting ways in which to more appropriately reconcile these two approaches.

Keywords: geographical indications, PDO, PGI, intellectual property, comparative law, EC law, Food products, France, Germany