The Regulation of Geographical Indications in the Wine Sector

The paper analyzes the regulation of Geographical Indications (GIs) in the wine sector, making reference to the national (Italy, Australia, USA), supranational (European Union) and international (WTO) contexts. While Europe has created an ad hoc regime for GIs, clearly distinguishing them from trademarks, this does not seem to be the case for Australia and the USA, where such differentiation does not exist or is in its initial stage of development. The paper argues that the differences emerging at comparative level lie in the idea behind the notion of GIs. While Europe conceive them as a kind of common property strongly linked to tradition and culture, Australia and the USA look at GIs as private property rights.