Protection of Geographical Indications for Craft and Industrial Products
From 1 December 2025, it is no longer be possible to obtain national protection for geographical indications for craft and industrial products (CIGIs); solely EU protection is available. Under the new system applicable from 1 December 2025, only geographical indications can be protected for these products (i.e. the signs/names relating to these products cannot be protected as designations of origin). The registration procedure consists of two phases: a national and an EU phase. In Hungary, the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO) is responsible for conducting the national phase (craft and industrial products are therefore the only type of product for which the national phase is conducted by HIPO; for GIs relating to agricultural products, wines and spirits, the Minister of Agriculture is responsible for the national phase).
The most important laws governing the protection of CIGIs are the following:
- Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products and amending Regulations (EU) 2017/1001 and (EU) 2019/1753 [CIGI Regulation],
- additional European Union legislation supporting the implementation of the CIGI Regulation, such as
o Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1956 of 29 September 2025 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 of the European Parliament and of the Council on geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products,
o Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1955 of 29 September 2025 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2411 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products, - the rules of Act XI of 1997 on the Protection of Trademarks and Geographical Indications [Hungarian Trademark and GI Act] on the protection of CIGIs [in particular Chapter XVII/C],
- relevant provisions of Decree No. 16/2004 (IV.27.) of Minister of Justice (IM) on the Detailed Formal Requirements of Trademark Applications and Applications for the Protection of Geographical Indications [Formal Requirements Decree] [§ 4],
- relevant provisions of Decree 19/2005 (12 April) GKM on Fees for Administrative Services in Industrial Property Procedures before the Hungarian Patent Office [Fees Decree] [ § 12, § 14(1), § 15(6) ].
What are craft and industrial products?
Products
- produced either entirely by hand or with the aid of manual or digital tools, or by mechanical means, whenever the manual contribution is an important component of the finished product; or
- produced in a standardized way, including serial production and by using machines. [CIGI Regulation Art. 4(1)]
Which names relating to craft and industrial products are eligible for protection?
Craft and industrial products shall meet the following three criteria in order to enjoy EU-level protection for their names:
- the product originates in a specific place, region or country;
- the product’s given quality, reputation or other characteristic are essentially attributable to its geographical origin; and
- at least one of the production steps of the product takes place in the defined geographical area [CIGI Regulation Art. 6].
What happens in the national phase?
An application for registration of a geographical indication of a product originating in Hungary shall be submitted to HIPO [CIGI Regulation Art. 13, for rules of submission see § 116/P. of the Hungarian Trademark and GI Act].
Who can be an applicant?
- a producer group or
- a single producer if the following conditions are fulfilled:
o the person concerned is the only producer willing to submit an application; and
o the geographical area concerned is defined by a particular part of a territory without reference to property boundaries and has characteristics that differ appreciably from those of neighbouring geographical areas, or the characteristics of the product are different from the characteristics of products produced in neighbouring geographical areas [CIGI Regulation Art. 8].
What shall the application for registration contain?
In the case of craft and industrial products, the application shall include the following attachments:
- product specification
o the relevant detailed content requirements (e.g. the name to be protected as a GI, the type of product, a description of the product, the specification of the defined geographical area, information establishing the link between the geographical area and a given quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product, a description of the production methods, information concerning packaging) are set out in Article 9(1) of the CIGI Regulation - single document
o the single document is practicably a summary of the product specification
o the relevant detailed content requirements (the name to be protected as a GI, the type of product, a description of the product, a concise definition of the geographical area, a description of the link between the product and the defined geographical area) are set out in Article 10(1) of the CIGI Regulation
o it shall be prepared using the form provided in Annex II of the CIGI Regulation and may not exceed 2,500 words in length
- accompanying documentation
o the relevant detailed content requirements (the name and contact details of the applicant, the name and contact details of the competent authority responsible for controls and, where applicable, of the product certification body or natural person verifying compliance with the product specification, information concerning any limitations on the use or protection of the GI, as well as any transitional measures, proposed by the applicant or by the national competent authority, any other information considered appropriate by the member state or the applicant) are set out in Article 11(1) of the CIGI Regulation.
What happens after the application is received by HIPO?
HIPO shall examine compliance with the above requirements set out in the CIGI Regulation and
- if the application is incomplete or incorrect, HIPO calls the applicant for providing additional information,
- if it does not meet the prescribed requirements (the conditions set out in Articles 6 or 8 are not met or the application does not contain the information specified in Articles 9, 10, and 11), HIPO shall reject the application [CIGI Regulation Art. 14, Hungarian Trademark and GI Act § 116/P].
If the requirements are met, HIPO will publish the application in its official journal (i.e. in Gazette for Patents and Trademarks).
Within three months of the publication, an opposition may be lodged against the registration of the geographical indication (under the so-called national opposition procedure HIPO shall examine the opposition and take it into account when making its decision concluding the national phase; the national opponent is considered to be a party in the course of the procedure) [CIGI Regulation Art. 15, Hungarian Trademark and GI Act § 116/R, 116/S ].
How does the national phase end?
If HIPO, after the examination of the application and the assessment of the outcome of the opposition procedure, finds that the requirements of the CIGI Regulation are met, it shall take a favourable decision without undue delay and submit the application to EUIPO [CIGI Regulation Art. 16, Hungarian Trademark and GI Act § 116/T ].
If HIPO finds that the requirements of the CIGI Regulation are not met, it shall reject the application [CIGI Regulation Art. 16, Hungarian Trademark and GI Act § 116/T].
Nevertheless, it is possible to seek legal remedy against HIPO’s decision [CIGI Regulation Art. 16, Hungarian Trademark and GI Act § 116/T].
To ensure continuity of protection, from the date of filing the application with EUIPO until the date of the decision on the application is made (or until the withdrawal of the application), the geographical indication shall be granted temporary national protection [CIGI Regulation Art. 18, Hungarian Trademark and GI Act § 116/U].
What happens in the Union phase?
The application (and its attachments) shall be examined by EUIPO within six months of the receipt of the application. As a result of the examination,
- if the application is incomplete or incorrect , EUIPO may seek supplementary information from the competent authority of the member state (practically HIPO) concerned (if the competent authority fails to do so , the application shall be rejected),
- if EUIPO considers that the conditions laid down in the CIGI Regulation are fulfilled, it shall publish in the Union register the single document and the reference to the product specification published electronically [CIGI Regulation Art. 23].
Within three months of the date of publication of the single document and the reference to the electronic publication of the product specification in the Union register, an opponent may lodge an opposition with EUIPO (under the opposition procedure at Union level EUIPO shall examine the opposition and take it into account when making its decision concluding the Union phase; the opponent shall be considered to be a party in the course of the procedure) [CIGI Regulation Art. 25-26].
Also, within three months of the date of publication of the single document and the reference to the product specification in the Union register, a notice of comments may be lodged with EUIPO. The notice of comments shall not be based on the grounds for opposition and the author of it shall not be considered to be a party to the procedure [CIGI Regulation Art. 27].
Concluding the Union phase, EUIPO, or in exceptional cases the European Commission, shall take a decision on the application which may be
- a rejection of the application in the event of non-compliance with the requirements set out in the CIGI Regulation or if the opposition submitted is well-founded or
- registration of the geographical indication if the requirements set out in the CIGI Regulation are met or if the opposition is unfounded [CIGI Regulation Art. 29, 30].
It is possible to seek legal remedy against the EUIPO’s (or the European Commission’s) decision as well [CIGI Regulation Art. 33].
What happens after obtaining EU protection?
After obtaining protection, the product specification may be amended. The applicant in whose name a GI has been registered or a producer using a GI may request the approval of an amendment to the product specification for that registered geographical indication. The amendment of the product specification can be a standard or a Union amendment. In the case of Union amendments , similarly to the registration one, the procedure consists of two phases: a national and a Union phase. In the case of standard amendments, the procedure has only a national phase which falls within the competence of HIPO. The detailed rules for amendments of the product specification are contained in Article 31 of the CIGI Regulation and para 116/V of the Hungarian Trademark and GI Act.
The cancellation of an EU protected CIGI may also be initiated. A request for cancellation may be submitted by the applicant in whose name the geographical indication is registered, the competent authority of a member state (e.g. practically HIPO), a natural or legal person having a legitimate interest or, under certain conditions, EUIPO or the European Commission may also initiate cancellation proceedings ex officio. The CIGI Regulation distinguishes between mandatory (e.g. a generic term has been registered) and possible (e.g. compliance of the product with the product specification can no longer be ensured) reasons for cancellation. This procedure consists of two phases as well: a national and a Union phase. The detailed rules for cancellation are contained in Article 32 of the CIGI Regulation and para 116/W of the Hungarian Trademark and GI Act.
In order to verify the compliance of the products designated by a geographical indication and originating in the Union with the corresponding product specification, prior to placing the product on the market, producers shall submit a so-called self-declaration to the competent authority responsible for controls. The self-declaration shall be made using the standard form set out in Annex I of the CIGI Regulation. It has to be noted that the form in Annex I is the one to be submitted to the authority responsible for controls in order to verify compliance with the product specification; the product specification to be lodged in the course of the registration procedure shall not be prepared using this form. Once the product is on the market, producers shall resubmit a self-declaration every three years to demonstrate continued compliance of the product with the product specification. The main rules governing the verification of compliance with the product specification are set out in Article 51 of the CIGI Regulation and para 116/Y of the Hungarian Trademark and GI Act.
What happens to geographical indications for craft and industrial products that have already obtained national protection?
The most important thing to know in this regard is that by 2 December 2026, national specific protection for geographical indications for craft and industrial products shall cease to exist. This also means that up this point in time, interested member states (that is, Hungary too) shall inform the European Commission and EUIPO which of their legally protected names they wish to register and protect pursuant to the CIGI Regulation.
Which existing names are eligible for EU protection?
Already existing names, i.e. geographical indications already protected at national level may be granted EU protection if they meet the following requirements:
- they fall within the scope of Article 3 of the CIGI Regulation (essentially, they are considered to be names relating to craft and/or industrial products),
- they meet the criteria for geographical indications under Article 6 of the CIGI Regulation,
- they comply with the rules concerning product specification laid down in Article 9 of the CIGI Regulation,
- they are accompanied by a single document in accordance with Article 10 of the CIGI Regulation.
What should registered rights holders do if they wish to apply for EU protection?
Registered rights holders
- shall submit an application in this respect for each designation of origin/geographical indication separately and
- a product specification as well as a single document shall be attached to the application.
It is important to note that only those who are registered as rights holders in the register of geographical indications may take action before HIPO with regard to submissions as to obtaining EU GI protection. Applications and its attachments shall be sent to HIPO by 2 November 2026, at the latest.
What happens after the application is submitted to HIPO?
HIPO will examine the application and the attachments thereto, basically checking the comprehensibility, accuracy and completeness of the submitted documents and the information contained therein. If the application is incomplete, HIPO calls the applicant for providing additional information
If the application and its attachments meet the conditions set out in the CIGI Regulation, HIPO shall inform EUIPO and the European Commission of the geographical indication (the already legally protected name) to be protected at Union level and shall send EUIPO all additional documents necessary to obtain EU protection.
Following the above, EUIPO (or, exceptionally, the European Commission) will decide on the registration.
Where Union protection is granted, the day on which the member state concerned has informed the European Commission and EUIPO shall be deemed to be the first day of protection under the CIGI Regulation. National protection may be extended in time by the member state concerned until the registration procedure has been completed and the decision has become final [CIGI Regulation Art. 70].
What happens to geographical indications for craft and industrial products that have already obtained international protection?
The CIGI Regulation amends Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2019 on the action of the Union following its accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications. Pursuant to the amended Article 11, in respect of each appellation of origin originating in a member state which is party to the Lisbon Agreement, for a product falling within the scope of the CIGI Regulation but not protected under it, the member state concerned (that is, Hungary too) shall choose to request either:
- the registration of that appellation of origin under the CIGI Regulation or
- the cancellation of the registration of that appellation of origin from the International Register.
Hungary shall inform EUIPO of its choice by 2 December 2026, and submit the relevant application. This is necessary under the applicable regulations because if the national protection that constitutes the basis of the international protection (i.e. protection in countries outside the EU that are parties to the Lisbon Agreement) ceases to exist, international protection cannot be maintained after that date. EU protection can then serve as the basis for international protection; which also means that in its absence, it is not possible to maintain international protection.
Registered rights holders shall apply for EU protection as described in the section on obtaining protection as to already existing names, i.e. they shall submit an application for maintaining international protection to HIPO, separately for each appellation of origin attaching the product specification and the single document.
If the rights holder does not wish to apply for EU protection or does not make a statement at all in this regard , the member state concerned (that is, Hungary too) shall initiate the cancellation of the registration of the appellation of origin in question from the International Register [Regulation no. 2019/1753 Art. 11 ].
If the appellation of origin is registered in the EU, the international registration of the given appellation of origin in accordance with the Geneva Act shall be requested within twelve months of the date of registration of the geographical indication pursuant to the CIGI Regulation [Regulation no. 2019/1753 Art. 11 ].
