Wine, the EU Court lawyer: “No to Champanillo tapas bars”

The Court of Justice of the EU could bring down the ax on Champanillo bars, a chain of places in Catalonia where “tapas”, delicious snacks are consumed, and whose name evokes Champagne, which in Spanish is called Champàn. A little as if a bar in Milan or Turin were called “Champagnino” or, in the fashion of the 1930s, “Sciampagnino”. Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products, according to the conclusions of the Attorney General of the Court Giovanni Pitruzzella relating to a lawsuit brought by the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, a very effective consortium in protecting the name of the most famous bubbles in the world, are protected against “all forms of commercial parasitism”. It matters little that the Champanillos are bars (present in Cardedeu, Barcelona, ​​Mollet and Calella, according to La Vanguardia), and not bottles of wine. The Advocate General proposes that the Court declare that EU law protects PDO products against “all commercial parasitic practices concerning products or services without distinction”. Since the name of the chain of “bar de tapas” includes the diminutive suffix “-illo”, corresponding to the Italian “-ino”, the lawyer excludes that the use of the term “Champanillo” constitutes a “use”, according to the regulation, of the Dop Champagne. The Advocate General notes, however, that the regulation prohibits not only the improper use of a PDO but also, more generally, “any practice, relating to products or services, aimed at parasitically exploiting the reputation of a PDO through a mental association with it “. In particular, the regulation prohibits the undue evocation of the PDO. The final decision, however, rests with the national court, which must take into account a number of elements. Among the “aggravating factors” for Catalan tapas bars is the fact that the term Champanillo is often accompanied by the image of two glasses (champagne or sparkling wine) in the act of toast, which increasingly evokes the highly protected ” bubble »French. However, the Luxembourg judges will decide the fate of the Champanillo bars on the Ramblas: the conclusions of the Advocate General suggest a legal solution to the case, but they are not binding.