72 WINE LAW This significant ruling allows to recall that the registration as collective trademarks, by collective bodies, of geographical names protected as DOs or GIs, constitutes a common practice in the Italian wine sector. For instance, the geographical collective trademarks Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti Classico dal 1716 and Prosecco di Conegliano di Valdobbiadene are registered by the relevant Consortia, whose designations correspond to designations of origin (DOCGs in all these cases). Consortia of protection play a fundamental role and constitute the real element of connection between DOs and trademarks, since they have a prominent role in the promotion and protection of DOs and GIs and, at the same time, they are often the owners of geographical collective trademarks. This scenario seems to contradict the unique ruling, which has denied the possible coexistence between collective trademarks and Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications (i.e. Court of Rome, 30 April 2014); a decision that appears to oppose not only the well-established Italian case-law but the recent concrete evolution of the wine sector as well. On a final note, the Consortia’s strategy is useful for obtaining effective protection, also in countries where Italian and EU Designations of Origin and Geographical Designations are not protected. Therefore, the growing export of wine products and the increasing interest in the registration of collective trademarks have to be analysed together. That said, concerning collective trademarks, Law Decree No. 15, in the transposition of EU Directive 2436/2015, has also introduced certification trademarks, which are aimed at guaranteeing and certifying specific characteristics of the goods, such as their quality, other than their geographical origin. Due to their nature, the owners of certification trademarks (i.e. collective bodies or associations having the role of certifiers) cannot use the sign for commercial purposes, actively selling certified or similar products. As for collective trademarks, the use of certification trademarks is subject to the strict respect of a government of use. At the EU level, certification trademarks are ruled by articles 83-92 of the Regulation (EU) No. 2017/1001. Considering that this new category of signs cannot be linked to the geographical nature of the products, it is hard to evaluate the real extent of the reform in the wine sector, since, as mentioned, the qualitative characteristics of wine products, protected by the law, are generally linked to their geographical origin. At any rate, it is possible to imagine that the impact of certification trademarks on wine sector would probably be linked to innovative winemaking systems, for instance, certification trademarks may characterise products obtained with specific methods of fermentation or bottling. In this sense, it is worth recalling that winemaking techniques have always transformed final
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