Article 12 Protection Against Becoming Generic

Agreed Statement concerning Article 12: For the purposes of this Act, it is understood that Article 12 is without prejudice to the application of the provisions of this Act concerning prior use, as, prior to international registration, the denomination or indication constituting the appellation of origin or geographical indication may already, in whole or in part, be generic in a Contracting Party other than the Contracting Party of Origin, for example, because the denomination or indication, or part of it, is identical with a term customary in common language as the common name of a good or service in such Contracting Party, or is identical with the customary name of a grape variety in such Contracting Party.