/ Alessandri & Compañía files with INAPI the first Certification Mark application in Chile
September 20, 2011• The application was filed in representation of Asociación Gremial Vinos de Chile A.G.
• This distinctive sign granted by INAPI assures consumers that the products and services being offered possess special characteristics, which are certified by the mark titleholder.
Santiago, September 6, 2011. Alessandri & Compañía Abogados, in representation of Asociación Gremial Vinos de Chile A.G. (Wines of Chile Trade Association), filed at the Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial (National Institute of Industrial Property, INAPI), the first application to register a certification mark in Chile.
Maximiliano Santa Cruz, director of Inapi and Rodrigo Velasco A., partner Alessandri & Compañía.
It refers to the CERTIFIED SUSTAINABLE WINE OF CHILE mark and its characteristic logo, to certify the Chilean wines produced at fields and vineyards whose processes meet sustainability standards in the environmental and labor relations areas. Upon its registration, the certification mark presented by Vinos de Chile will be publicly used by all vineyards whose procedures have been certified following the sustainability standards predefined in the Use and Control Regulations filed with the certification mark application and in the Certification Program available at www.sustentavid.org, sponsored by the Association jointly with the Tecnovid and Vinnova consortia.
The INAPI National Director, Maximiliano Santa Cruz, declared that “this first application deserves to be recognized as the first step and a concrete invitation for our national producers to start using this tool. This kind of marks guarantees consumers that the products and services being offered have special features, which are certified by the mark titleholder”.
According to Rodrigo Velasco A., attorney and partner at Alessandri & Compañía, the law firm that counsels and represents Asociación Vinos de Chile in these matters, “there is a worldwide tendency to introduce this special trademark category, given the need for mechanisms to guarantee the quality of products and services in a highly globalized market. Particularly, in the wine market, consumers all over the world are increasingly sophisticated and reward sustainably manufactured products with their preference”.
The mark and its characteristic logo will certify that the Chilean wines are produced at fields and vineyards whose processes meet sustainability standards in the environmental and labor relations areas
The Ministry of Economics, through INAPI, is working on a series of initiatives seeking to stimulate the use of these distinctive signs (collective marks, certification marks, denominations of origin, and geographic indications) covered by the Industrial Property Law, “fully aware of their importance in obtaining improved positioning levels in the local and international markets, increase productive efficiency ratings among small and large producers and, of course, keeping final consumers in mind, who buy products with higher quality and safety standards”, Santa Cruz concluded.
The Asociación Gremial de Vinos de Chile was incorporated in 2007 with the purpose of bringing together the trade association efforts in the wine producing industry, previously represented by the Viñas de Chile A.G. and ChileVid A.G. trade associations. Today, the Asociación Gremial de Vinos de Chile has more than one hundred associated vineyards across the country.