Hastings Law Journal Volume 58 | Issue 2 Article 3 1-2006 Champagne, Feta, and Bourbon: The pirS ited Debate about Geographical Indications Justin Hughes Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Justin Hughes, Champagne, Feta, and Bourbon: The Spirited Debate about Geographical Indications, 58 Hastings L.J. 299 (2006). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol58/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Champagne, Feta, and Bourbon: The Spirited Debate About Geographical Indications JUSTIN HUGHES* It should be borne in mind that, as is the case with trademarks, an unduly high level of protection of geographical indications and designations of origin would impede the integration of national markets by imposing unjustified restrictions on the free flow of goods. -European Union Advocate General Francis Jacobs' Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are. - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin' INTRODUCTION Not so long ago, exotic goods came from exotic places if they came at all. People grew, cured, and cooked local foods; they built with local materials. The people in the village of Roquefort-sur-Salzon ate their cheese because that was what they produced, not because they insisted * Associate Professor and Director, Intellectual Property Law Program, Cardozo School of Law, New York. Over time, elements of this manuscript have benefited from comments received at the WTO Public Symposium, Geneva (2oo5); the AIPPI Japan International IP Symposium, Tokyo (2004); the Queen Mary's College, London-Fordham University Intellectual Property Conference, London (2003); and the Chicago Intellectual Property Colloquium, Loyola University Chicago/Chicago-Kent (2oo3).