From 27 to 31 October 2014, the last session of the Working Group (WG) on the reform of the Lisbon Agreement on the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration (Lisbon Agreement) was held in Geneva.
The WG discussed the texts provided by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Secretariat (the Draft Revised Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications and the Draft Regulations under the Revised Agreement). The work focused on trying to reduce the differences in views among WIPO Member States on the most controversial provisions, such as the ones concerning registration procedures for Appellations of Origin (AO) and Geographical Indication (GIs), the level protection of AO and GIs protected via the Agreement, other legal effects deriving from the international registration and AO/GIs registration/maintenance fees.
In preparation of the Diplomatic Conference for the adoption of the Revised Agreement, which will take place in Geneva on 11-21 May 2015, the WIPO Secretariat had prepared the Draft Rules of Procedure of the Diplomatic Conference. The Rules of Procedures were approved.
oriGIn welcomes the conclusion of the Lisbon Reform works and the Diplomatic Conference. We believe it is crucial to establish an international registry for all GIs and AO, which would confer them a high and predictable level of protection. Likewise, it is important to obtain an international registry open to a large number of countries, far beyond the current 28 Lisbon Agreement contracting parties. The oriGIn full report of the WG meeting is available @ http://www.origin-gi.com/index.php/en/member-area/articles/item/3399-position-papers-en-gb-4.html
