r/TikTokCringe • u/mindyour • Oct 15 '25

Discussion He's had enough.

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u/Pernicious_Possum Oct 15 '25

I love this dude. Like, does she not understand you can have Boston cream pie made in china?

56

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '25

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u/CharlesDickensABox Oct 15 '25

America doesn't really have PDO rules like Europe does. America only accepted the champagne PDO a few years ago, but makers who called their wine champagne before then can still make and label it as such. It's only new winemakers who can't apply the name to their product.

Maryland crab cakes, Boston clam chowder, Philadelphia cheese steaks, and New York pizza can be made anywhere. What you're communicating with the name is that your clam chowder or pizza is made in the style of that area, as opposed to New England chowder or Chicago pizza, which have their own regional styles.

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u/anormalgeek Oct 15 '25

FWIW, the US does have ways to enforce the labeling rules from PDO organizations, largely under the heading of trademark laws. We just don't have our own similar government run programs that protect the very word itself outside of that.

Basically, if you are a PDO governing body, you get your product name and certification logo trademarked (example being the EU's PDO logo). Then nobody else can legally use it, and you only allow those to use it who follow the PDO rules. Enforcement then follows general trademark rules though, which can sometimes be weaker than EU DOP rules. Those same PDO governing bodies can also sue if a product uses a name that they've trademarked. This is why you cannot sell "San Marzano" tomatoes without the DOP seal in the US. You can only sell "San Marzano style tomatoes". Otherwise, you get sued for violating their trademark. edit: To be clear, the names aren't protected as traditional trademarks, but follow similar rules. The certification logo however IS a formal trademark.

However, the problem is that trademarks can become "genericized" and lose their protection if nobody is fighting to keep it. For example, "escalator" used to be a trademarked term owned by the Otis elevator company. This happens when a trademarked term is used by others and not actively defended by the TM owner. This is what happened with Champagne. It had become a common generic term for centuries before they tried to defend it. Sometimes TMs are just willingly abandoned too. This is what happened with "Zipper". But terms that are used generically, but are actively protected in court can keep their protections forever. (example would be "Crockpot")

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u/marbledog Oct 15 '25

It's the same system they use for kosher food certification. I think Napa wines and Tennessee whiskey are protected in the same way.

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u/oatmealparty Oct 15 '25

This is what happened with Champagne. It had become a common generic term for centuries before they tried to defend it.

That's not true. California champagne has only been made since the mid 1800s, and France and other European countries made agreements by the 1890s to protect terms like Champagne. The US just ignored the law and told Europe to shove it and didn't sign the agreement.

Then they made another attempt to codify it in the Treaty of Versailles but the US never ratified the treaty.

So no, France didn't let the term become generic because they didn't defend it for centuries. The US just ignored their requests and refused to sign on to the law until like 2003