TSG Pizza Napoletana - Juventus FC and NFTs - "Pasapalabra" case

TSG Pizza Napoletana 

Pizza and more precisely, the "Pizza Napoletana", is one of the symbols of Italy in the world. It is therefore necessary to ensure its protection in order to preserve the traditional recipe.

The Pizza Napoletana has now been recognised at a European level as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) with reservation of name. In 2010, the Pizza Napoletana obtained the registration as a TSG, but with no reservation of the name.

What is a TSG? Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs, a TSG serves “to safeguard traditional methods of production and recipes by helping producers of traditional product in marketing and communicating the value-adding attributes of their traditional recipes and products to consumers”. 

Therefore, TSG must comply with the product specifications, by including: 

-       The name proposed for registration

-       A description of the product, including its main characteristics

-       A description of the production method 

-       The key elements establishing the product’s traditional character

The product specifications of the Pizza Napoletana are included in the Commission Regulation (EU) No 97/2010 of 4 February 2010 entering a name in the register of traditional specialities guaranteed [Pizza Napoletana (TSG)] , and they comprise the preparation of the dough, the dough rising process, how to shape the dough balls, the ingredients used – which shall be Italian, like the “Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP” or the “Mozzarella STG”, and the baking temperature of the oven. 

Therefore, from the 18^th of December, the term “Pizza Napoletana” may only be used and appear on the labelling, if the pizza complies with the product specifications. 

JUVENTUS AND NFTs

Italian football club Juventus FC has been successful in Court against a company that was commercialising Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) that included some of its trade marks. 

The NFT company Blockeras, a football gaming platform, launched a collection of NFTs linked to trading cards, that included Juventus’ registered trade marks “Juventus” and “Juve”. 

Moreover, the NFTs featured the image of the former Juventus football player, Christian Vieri, wearing the black and white striped uniform of the Italian football club. Blockeras allegedly obtained Vieri’s authorisation to use his image. However, it did not obtain Juventus’ authorisation to use its trade marks. 

For this reason, Juventus FC asked the Rome Court of First Instance to issue an injunction in order to prevent Blockeras from selling the NFT-cards, alleging trade mark infringement based on the unauthorised use of their trade marks. 

The Court held that this unauthorised use of Juventus’ trade marks in its NFTs could entail likelihood of confusion among the relevant public, since Juventus is a well-known trade mark in Italy, and especially considering the similarity between the goods and services covered by the trade mark. 

Therefore, the Court considered that there were enough evidences that Blockeras infringed Juventus’ trade marks. 

This decision is probably one of the first decisions issued by a European Court in relation to NFTs infringing a third party’s trade mark, but for sure more will come!

PASAPALABRA

Updates regarding the notorious Spanish tv show “Pasapalabra” and the legal dispute over the copyright of the final format called “El Rosco”. 

As we reported some months ago, the Dutch audiovisual group MC&F alleged that this format was copyright protected and claimed the authorship of this quiz. Therefore, MC&F sued Atresmedia (the Spanish tv channel broadcasting the show). The lawsuit was dismissed by the 8th Commercial Court of Barcelona, on the grounds that MC&F was not able to sufficiently prove the claimed authorship and the originality over “El Rosco”.   

MC&F lodged an appeal against this decision, and some weeks ago, the Provincial Court of Barcelona ruled that the authors of the “El Rosco” assigned their rights to MC&F. Therefore, MC&F must be considered as the copyright holder and consequently, by broadcasting “El Rosco”, Atresmedia is infringing the copyright. 

As a result, the Court ordered Atresmedia to cease broadcasting the quiz “El Rosco”, to compensate MC&F for the damages caused and to publicise the decision.

It is likely that Atresmedia will lodge an appeal against this decision, so we will keep you informed!