A jigsaw of case law helps to understand what is under protection (Warstein, Pistre and Haus Cramer) and identifies a set of components of the EU GIs scheme: their place into the intellectual property rights and the existence of an EU title which is obtained via Register (Rioja II, Turrón de Jijona and Salame felino) and whose exclusivity prevents Member States from create parallel schemes, as said in Budĕjovický Budvar beer; the fact that qualities and characteristics are due to the specific geographical area of origin, as described in Sekt; the GIs intrinsic reputation as discussed in the decision Nero Champagne; the value of the legislative position and its historical development in Grana Biraghi; the protection of the terroir and the savoir faire of the product, associated to its origin, that can benefit only the eligible producers, as declared in Manchego; and the fact that generic terms are not protected because the protection is reserved to the protected term as such, as clarified in Aceto Balsamico di Modena. The last component under review is the concept of sustainability.