THE CONSORTIUM CANCELS THE ATTEMPT TO COUNTERFEIT THE TRADEMARK ON THE ENGLISH MARKET
The Consortium for the Promotion and Protection of Piadina Romagnola Igp cancels the attempt to counterfeit the trademark on the English market by a Spanish group, despite the ongoing divorce with the EU. The President Alfio Biagini: “A great victory for all of Romagna”.
New goal of the Piadina Romagnola PGI which defends the notoriety and prestige of the symbolic product of Romagna and at the same time of the Italian agri-food, even in time of Brexit.
The pitfall, right on the English market, made slippery by the ongoing divorce with the EU, came from Spain. In fact, last August the news was blown in Romagna that two applications for registration (both word and figurative) of the ‘Piadine di Modena’ trademarks were filed in the United Kingdom trademark register.
Attempting the coup is a large Spanish group active in the food sector which allegedly used the new, ambiguous brands on the English market to distinguish, among others, products such as bread, bakery products, cereal-based products.
It goes without saying that if these trademarks had come to registration, in addition to being in conflict with the registration of Piadina Romagnola / Piada Romagnola PGI, they would have created disorientation towards the English consumer as to the real origin of the Piadina product.
Informed of the fact, the Consortium for the Promotion and Protection of Piadina Romagnola goes on the counterattack and in mid-September decides to oppose the attempt to counterfeit the brand launched by the Spanish group with legal action. The registration of a ‘Piadine di Modena’ trademark, had it been successful, could in fact have represented a serious obstacle to the marketing of Piadina Romagnola PGI on the English market.
The dispute is thus opened, and an appeal filed with the United Kingdom Patent and Trademark Office, thanks also to the economic contribution of the partner Deco Industrie who produces piadina with the Loriana brand, for the completion of international practices.
In recent weeks, the positive release of the affair with the English Office which accepts the objections presented by the Consortium for the Promotion and Protection of Piadina Romagnola and cancels the applications for registration of the PIADINE DI MODENA trademarks.
This is a great result not only for the Consortium but for the whole of Romagna – explains Alfio Biagini, President of the Consortium for the Promotion and Protection of Piadina Romagnola Igp – This story, with an outcome that is anything but obvious, especially considering the particular situation which was created between the end of October and the beginning of November of 2019 in relation to Brexit, demonstrates how even in distant markets it is possible to hinder the misappropriation of the prestige and notoriety of Italian style “.
