History
Governments have protected trade names and trademarks of food products identified with a particular region since at least the end of the 19th century, using laws against false trade descriptions orAreas covered
The use of geographical indications is not limited to agricultural products. A geographical indication may also highlight specific qualities of a product that are due to human factors found in the product’s place of origin, such as specific manufacturing skills and traditions. For example handicrafts, which are generally handmade using local natural resources and usually embedded in the traditions of local communities.Differences between geographical indications and other protections
Trademarks
Geographical indications and trademarks are distinctive signs used to distinguish goods or services in the marketplace. Both convey information about the origin of a good or service, and enable consumers to associate a particular quality with a good or service. Trademarks inform consumers about the source of a good or service. They identify a good or service as originating from a particular company. Trademarks help consumers associate a good or service with a specific quality or reputation, based on information about the company responsible for producing or offering it. Geographical indications identify a good as originating from a particular place. Based on its place of origin, consumers may associate a good with a particular quality, characteristic or reputation. A trademark often consists of an arbitrary sign that may be used by its owner or another person authorized to do so. A trademark can be assigned or licensed to anyone, anywhere in the world, because it is linked to a specific company and not to a particular place. In contrast, the sign used to denote a geographical indication usually corresponds to the name of the place of origin of the good, or to the name by which the good is known in that place. A geographical indication may be used by all persons who, in the area of origin, produce the good according to specified standards. However, because of its link with the place of origin, a geographical indication cannot be assigned or licensed to someone outside that place or not belonging to the group of authorized producers.Appellation of origin
Appellations of origin are a special kind of geographical indication. The term is used in the Paris Convention and defined in the Lisbon Agreement. Article 2 of the Lisbon Agreement defines appellations of origin as“''(1)... the geographical denomination of a country, region, or locality, which serves to designate a product originating therein, the quality or characteristics of which are due exclusively or essentially to the geographical environment, including natural and human factors.”'' This definition suggests that appellations of origin consist of the name of the product’s place of origin. However, it is interesting to note that a number of traditional indications that are not place names, but refer to a product in connection with a place, are protected as appellations of origin under the Lisbon Agreement (for example, Reblochon (cheese) and Vinho Verde (green wine)).It is sometimes argued that products with a certain reputation, but no other quality due to their place of origin are not considered appellations of origin under the Lisbon Agreement. However, this interpretation is not universally accepted. Nevertheless, appellations of origin and geographical indications both require a qualitative link between the product to which they refer and its place of origin. Both inform consumers about a product’s geographical origin and a quality or characteristic of the product linked to its place of origin. The basic difference between the two terms is that the link with the place of origin must be stronger in the case of an appellation of origin. The quality or characteristics of a product protected as an appellation of origin must result exclusively or essentially from its geographical origin. This generally means that the raw materials should be sourced in the place of origin and that the processing of the product should also happen there. In the case of geographical indications, a single criterion attributable to geographical origin is sufficient, be it a quality or other characteristic of the product, or only its reputation. Moreover, the production of the raw materials and the development or processing of a GI product do not necessarily take place entirely in the defined geographical area.The term appellation of origin is often used in laws that establish a specific right and system of protection for geographical indications, in so-called sui generis systems of protection (see the section on how to obtain protection for geographical indications). Geographical indication is a more general concept that does not determine a specific mode of protection.Rural development effects
Geographical indications are generally applied to traditional products, produced by rural, marginal or indigenous communities over generations, that have gained a reputation on the local, national or international markets due to their specific unique qualities. Producers can add value to their products through Geographical Indications by: * communicating to consumers the product's characteristics, which derive from the climate, soil and other natural conditions in its particular geographical area; * promoting the conservation of local traditional production processes; and * protecting and adding value to the cultural identity of local communities. The recognition and protection on the markets of the names of these products allows the community of producers to invest in maintaining the specific qualities of the product on which the reputation is built. Most importantly, as the reputation spreads beyond borders and demand grows, investment may be directed to the sustainablity of the environment where these products originate and are produced. In the International Trade Centre's "Guide to Geographical Indications: Linking Products and their Origins", authors Daniele Giovannucci, Professor Tim Josling, William Kerr, Bernard O'Connor and May T. Yeung clearly assert that geographical indications are by no means a panacea for the difficulties of rural development. They can however offer a comprehensive framework for rural development, since they can positively encompass issues of economic competitiveness, stakeholder equity, environmental stewardship, and socio-cultural value. The application of circular economy will ensure socio-economic returns in the long-run to avoid growth at an environmental cost. This approach for GI development may also allow for investment together with promoting the reputation of the product along the lines of sustainability when and where possible. Rural development impacts from geographical indications, referring to environmental protection, economic development and social well-being, can be: *the strengthening of sustainable local food production and supply (except for non-agricultural GIs such as handicrafts); *a structuring of the supply chain around a common product reputation linked to origin; *greater bargaining power to raw material producers for better distribution so as for them to receive a higher retail price benefit percentage; *capacity of producers to invest economic gains into higher quality to access niche markets, improving circular economy means throughout the value chain, protection against infringements such as free-riding from illegitimate producers, etc.; *economic resilience in terms of increased and stabilised prices for the GI product to avoid the commodity trap through de-commodisation, or to prevent/minimise external shocks affecting the premium price percentage gains (usually varying from 20-25%); *added value throughout the supply chain; *spill-over effects such as new business and even other GI registrations; *preservation of the natural resources on which the product is based and therefore protect the environment; *preservation of traditions andInternational issues
Like trademarks, geographical indications are regulated locally by each country because conditions of registration such as differences in the generic use of terms vary from country to country. This is especially true of food and beverage names which frequently use geographical terms, but it may also be true of other products such as carpets (e.g. ' Shiraz'), handicrafts, flowers and perfumes. When products with GIs acquire a reputation of international magnitude, some other products may try to pass themselves off as the authentic GI products. This kind of competition is often seen as unfair, as it may discourage traditional producers as well as mislead consumers. Thus the European Union has pursued efforts to improve the protection of GI internationally. Inter alia, the European Union has established distinct legislation to protect geographical names in the fields of wines, spirits, agricultural products including beer. A register for protected geographical indications and denominations of origin relating to products in the field of agriculture including beer, but excluding mineral water, was established (DOOR). Another register was set up for wine region names, namely the E-Bacchus register. In November 2020, the European Union Intellectual Property Office launched the comprehensive database GI View covering food, wine, and spirit GIs. A private database project (GEOPRODUCT directory) intends to provide worldwide coverage. Accusations of 'unfair' competition should although be levelled with caution since the use of GIs sometimes comes from European immigrants who brought their traditional methods and skills with them.Paris convention and Lisbon agreement
International trade made it important to try to harmonize the different approaches and standards that governments used to register GIs. The first attempts to do so were found in the Paris Convention on trademarks (1883, still in force, 176 members), followed by a much more elaborate provision in the 1958Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
The WTOGeneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement
In 2015, The Geneva Act was adopted. It entered into force early-2020 with the accession of the European Union. The Geneva Act bridges the Lisbon system of Appellations of Origin, and the TRIPS system of Geographical Indications.Differences in philosophy
One reason for the conflicts that occur between European and United States governments is a difference in philosophy as to what constitutes a "genuine" product. In Europe, the prevailing theory is that of '' terroir'': that there is a specific property of a geographical area, and that dictates a strict usage of geographical designations. Thus, anyone with sheep of the right breeds can make Roquefort cheese if they are located in the part of France where that cheese is made, but nobody outside that part of France can make a blue sheep's milk cheese and call it Roquefort, even if they completely duplicate the process described in the definition of Roquefort. By contrast, in the United States, the naming is generally considered to be a matter of intellectual property. Thus, the name Grayson belongs to Meadowcreek Farms, and they have to a right to use it as a trademark. Nobody, even in Grayson County, Virginia, can call their cheese Grayson, while Meadowcreek Farms, if they bought up another farm elsewhere in the United States, even if nowhere near Grayson County, could use that name. It is considered that their need to preserve their reputation as a company is the quality guarantee. This difference causes most of the conflict between the United States and Europe in their attitudes toward geographical names. However, there is some overlap, particularly with American products adopting a European way of viewing the matter. The most notable of these are crops: Vidalia onions,See also
*Notes
:1.See also the Paris Convention, the Madrid Agreement, the Lisbon Agreement, the Geneva Act.Sources
References
Further reading
* Baeumer, Ludwig, “Protection of Geographical Indications under WIPO Treaties and Questions Concerning the Relationship Between Those Treaties and the TRIPS Agreement,” in Symposium on the Protection of Geographical Indications in the Worldwide Context (held in Eger, Hungary, October 24/25, 1997), WIPO publication No. 760(E), Geneva, 1999. * Bramley, Cerkia, Estelle Biénabe, and Johann Kirsten, “The Economics of Geographical Indications: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Geographical Indication Research in Developing Countries,” in The Economics of Intellectual Property, WIPO, 2009. * Giovannucci, Daniele et al., Guide to Geographical Indications, Linking Products and their Origins, International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva, 2009. * Rangnekar, Dwijen, The Socio-Economics of Geographical Indications: A Review of Empirical Evidence from Europe, UNCTAD-ICTSD Project on IPTs and Sustainable Development Series, Issue Paper 8, 2004. * Vandecandelaere, Emilie et al., Linking People, Places and Products, jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and SINER-GI, FAO, 2009. * United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Adding Value to Traditional Products of Regional Origin: A Guide to Creating a Quality Consortium, Vienna, 2010. * World Trade Organization (WTO), “Review under Article 24.2 of the Application of the Provisions of the Section of the TRIPS Agreement on Geographical Indications,” WTO document IP/C/W/253/Rev.1, 2003. * WIPO: SCT/3/6: Geographical Indications. * WIPO: SCT/5/3: Conflicts between Trademarks and GIs, Conflicts between Homonymous * WIPO: GIs.SCT/8/4: Geographical Indications, Historic Background, Nature of the Right, Existing Systems of Protection, Obtaining Protection in Other Countries. * WIPO: SCT/9/4: The Definition of Geographical Indications.External links