1.   The term ‘spirit drink’ shall not be part of a compound term describing an alcoholic beverage.

2.   A compound term describing an alcoholic beverage shall not consist of a combination of the term ‘liqueur’ with the name of one of the categories 33 to 40 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 110/2008.

3.   A compound term shall not replace the sales denomination of a spirit drink.

4.   The compound term describing an alcoholic beverage shall appear in uniform characters of the same font, size and colour. It shall not be interrupted by any textual or pictorial element which does not form part of it and shall not appear in a larger font size than that of the sales denomination.

1.   Where a trans-border geographical indication involves only Member States, the relevant application shall be submitted jointly or by one of the Member States in the name of the others. In the latter case, the application shall include a document from each of the other Member States concerned authorising the Member State forwarding the application to act on its behalf.

Where a trans-border geographical indication involves only third countries, the relevant application shall be submitted to the Commission either by one of the applicants on behalf of the others or by one of the third countries on behalf of the others and shall include:

Where a trans-border geographical indication involves at least one Member State and at least one third country, the application shall be submitted to the Commission by one of the Member States, third-country authorities or private entities from the third country in question and shall include:

2.   The Member State or the third-country authority or the private entity from the third country in question which submits to the Commission a trans-border application shall become the consignee of any notification or decision issued by the Commission.

1.   The date of submission of an application shall be the date of its receipt by the Commission.

2.   The Member State or the third-country authority or the private entity from the third country in question shall receive an acknowledgement of receipt indicating at least the following:

1.   If the technical file for an established geographical indication, submitted pursuant to Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 does not demonstrate that the requirements laid down in Article 15(1) of that Regulation are fulfilled, the Commission shall set a time period for its amendment or withdrawal or for the submission of comments by the Member State.

2.   If such deficiencies are not remedied by the Member State within the time period referred to in the first paragraph, the technical file shall be deemed not to have been submitted and Article 20(3) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 shall apply.

1.   The application is admissible if it consists of all the elements referred to in Article 6.

2.   If the application is not complete the Commission shall invite the applicant to remedy the deficiency within a period of two months. If the deficiency is not remedied within that time limit, the Commission shall reject the application as inadmissible.

1.   If a geographical indication does not comply with Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 or if the application for registration does not meet the requirements laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, the Commission shall set a time period for its amendment or withdrawal or for the submission of comments by the Member State, the third-country authority or the private entity from the third country in question.

2.   If the deficiencies are not remedied by the Member State, the third-country authority or the private entity from the third country in question within the time period referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission shall reject the application.

1.   Objections referred to in Article 17(7) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 shall be drawn up in accordance with the form set out in Annex III to this Regulation and submitted to the Commission. The date of submission of the objection shall be the date of its receipt by the Commission.

2.   The objector shall receive an acknowledgement of receipt indicating at least the following:

1.   The objection is admissible if it mentions the prior right(s) claimed, where relevant, and the ground(s) for the objection and it was received within the time period referred to in Article 17(7) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008.

2.   If the objection is based on the existence of an earlier trademark of reputation and renown already used in the Union, in accordance with Article 23(3) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, it shall be accompanied by proof of the filing of an application for registration, registration or use of that trademark, such as the certificate of registration or proof of its use, and proof of its reputation and renown.

3.   Any objection shall contain details of the facts, evidence and comments submitted in support of the objection and be accompanied by the relevant supporting documents.

The information and evidence produced in support of the use of an earlier trademark shall refer to location, duration, extent and nature of use and of its reputation and renown.

4.   If the information and the documents referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 have not been produced, the Commission shall invite the objector to remedy the deficiencies within a period of two months. If the deficiencies are not remedied within the time limit, the Commission shall reject the objection as inadmissible.

1.   If the objection is admissible, the Commission shall communicate it to the Member State, the third-country authority or the private entity from the third country in question and invite them to file observations within a period of two months. Any observations received within this time period shall be communicated to the objector.

2.   The Commission shall request the parties to submit comments on the observations received from the other parties within a period of two months.

3.   If the Commission considers that the objection is founded, it shall reject the application for registration.

4.   If, in the event of multiple objections, following a preliminary examination of one or more such objections, it may not be possible to accept the application for registration, the Commission may suspend the other objection procedures. The Commission shall inform the other objectors of any decision affecting them.

5.   Where an application for registration is rejected, objection procedures which have been suspended shall be deemed to be closed and the objectors concerned shall be duly informed.

1.   Decisions taken by the Commission pursuant to Articles 9(2), 11(2), 12(2) and 15(3) shall be based on the documents and information available to it.

The decisions, including grounds for them, shall be notified to the Member State, the third-country authority or the private entity from the third country in question, and, if appropriate, to the objector.

2.   Unless the application for the registration of a geographical indication is rejected pursuant to Articles 11(2), 12(2) and 15(3) of this Regulation, the Commission shall decide pursuant to Article 17(8) of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 to register the geographical indication in Annex III to that Regulation.

1.   A request for cancellation of a geographical indication shall be drawn up in accordance with the form set out in Annex IV and shall be submitted to the Commission. The date of submission of the request for cancellation shall be the date of its receipt by the Commission.

2.   The author of the request for cancellation shall receive an acknowledgement of receipt indicating at least:

1.   A request for cancellation is admissible, if it clearly states the legitimate interest of the author of the request for cancellation and explains the ground(s) for such cancellation.

2.   Any request for cancellation shall contain details of the facts, evidence and comments submitted in support of cancellation. It shall be accompanied by the relevant supporting documents and in particular, by a statement from the Member State or the third-country authority where the residence or registered office of the author of the request is located.

3.   If the information and documents referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 have not been provided at the same time as the request for cancellation, the Commission shall invite the author of the request to remedy the deficiencies within a period of two months. If the deficiencies are not remedied within the time limit, the Commission shall reject the request as inadmissible.

The Commission shall notify the author of the request for cancellation as well as the Member State, the third-country authority or the private entity from the third country, whose geographical indication is affected by the request for cancellation, of the decision of inadmissibility.

1.   If the Commission has not rejected the request for cancellation in accordance with Article 19(3), it shall communicate the request to the Member State or the third-country authority or private entity from the third country, whose geographical indication is affected by the request for cancellation, and invite them to file observations within a deadline of two months. Any observation received within this time limit shall be communicated to the author of the request for cancellation.

2.   The Commission shall decide on a cancellation if the Member State, third-country authority or private entity from the third country in question does not file any observation or does not comply with the two-month time limit.

3.   Any decision to cancel the geographical indication concerned shall be taken by the Commission on the basis of the evidence available to it after the expiration of the deadline for submission of observations. It shall consider whether compliance with the technical file of the geographical indication is no longer possible or can no longer be guaranteed, particularly if the conditions laid down in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 are no longer fulfilled or may no longer be fulfilled in the near future.

Such decision on cancellation shall be notified to the Member State, the third-country authority or the private entity from the third country in question or the author of the request for cancellation.

4.   If more than one request for cancellation concerning the same geographical indication has been submitted and, after a preliminary examination of one or more of those requests, the Commission decides that it is no longer justified to protect the geographical indication, it may suspend other cancellation procedures concerning that geographical indication. It shall inform the other authors of the requests for cancellation of any decision affecting them.

If a geographical indication is cancelled, the Commission shall close the cancellation procedures which have been suspended and inform the other authors of the request for cancellation accordingly.

1.   An application for the amendment of the technical file related to a registered geographical indication, as referred to in Article 21 of Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, shall be drawn up in accordance with Annex V to this Regulation and submitted in electronic format.

2.   For the purposes of the application referred to in paragraph 1, Articles 8 to 15 of this Regulation shall apply mutatis mutandis. These procedures shall only concern the points of the technical file which are the subject of the amendment.

3.   Where the application for the amendment of the technical file is submitted by an applicant other than the initial applicant, the Commission shall communicate the application to the initial applicant.

1.   The Union symbol for registered geographical indications established in Annex V to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1898/2006 (2) may be used for spirit drinks. That symbol may not be used together with a compound term including a geographical indication. The indication ‘PROTECTED GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION’ may be replaced by the equivalent terms in another official language of the Union as laid down in that Annex.

2.   Where the Union symbol referred to in paragraph 1 appears on the label of a spirit drink, it shall be accompanied by the corresponding geographical indication.