GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS AND DESIGNATIONS OF ORIGIN 81 In this regard, the permanent action of collective bodies, such as Consortia, constitutes one of the best instruments of protection, thus playing a fundamental role, especially in the last years, in several rulings issued by the Italian and European Courts of merit, upon their judicial requests. For instance, with the decision of 24 June 2020, the Consortium for the Protection of the Controlled Designation of Origin Prosecco won an important decision before the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, which confirmed the previous statement of the UK Intellectual Property Office, rejecting the Nosecco trademark application, filed by a French company15. The ruling was grounded on the evocation of the well-known Prosecco DO, with the significant precision that the evocation of a DO or GI, expressly prohibited by Regulation (EU) no. 1308/2013, along with the misuse and the imitation, does not necessarily require the existence of a substantial risk of confusion among consumers. Moreover, the defence of the consumers’ rights and interests, in particular concerning the fairness of the indication of the origin and qualities of wine products on the labels, largely depends on Consortia’s level of awareness. In some cases, the pressure exerted by Consortia may be even more effective, especially if actively supported by local and national institutions, being sometimes possible to stop the challenged infringing third parties’ behaviour without a judge’s intervention. This would be the case of a London pub owner, who, in January 2020, installed a wine dispenser in a former yellow ATM, promoting his creative initiative with the phrase “the bank of bubbles – Prosecco ATM”16. This commercial enterprise has been largely promoted by the English press and immediately gained a remarkable success. However, the Prosecco DO was improperly used since the draft wine dispensed by the automated machine had nothing to do with the original Prosecco. More, the Prosecco’s government of use expressly prohibits using the designation of origin for draft wines. Therefore, also in consideration of the spread of the initiative, the Consortium for the Protection of the Controlled Designation of Origin Prosecco – actively supported by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture17 – firmly condemned the offer on the sale of draft wine as original Prosecco and obtained the immediate removal 15 High Court of Justice of England and Wales, 24 June 2020, EWHC 1633, case no. CH-2019-000335, in Darts.ip. 16 See the following article of the UK press: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bridgetarsenault/2020/01/30/a-prosecco-atm-in-london-is-dispensingfree-bubbles/#2a467ce26027. 17 See the official statement of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture: https://sistemaproprietaintellettuale.it/notizie/made-in-italy/17621-tutela-del-made-in-italy-rimosso-ilbancomat-del-prosecco-a-londra.html?title=prosecco.
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