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International negotiations on GIs: recent developments at the WTO and the WIPO
After a few years of deadlock, the World Trade Organization (WTO) resumes talks on Geographical Indications (GIs).
The WTO General Council of 27 November agreed to set the deadline of July 2015 to finalize a realistic road map for completing the Doha Round negotiations. Following this, at the 12 December informal “Special Session” of the TRIPS Council, the Chair (Ambassador Castillo) proposed to restart informal meetings on the multilateral register for GI wines and spirits as of February 2015. Such meetings will have the objective to take stock of previous WTO talks on the matter, provide an overview of recent GI developments outside the WTO (such as concluded bilateral agreements touching upon GIs and the reform of the Lisbon Agreement on the Protection of Appellations of Origin), and bring fresh ideas to the table.
In this context, Brazil, China, the EU and Switzerland, on behalf of the group of WTO Members States supporting the proposal “TN/C/W/52” of July 2008, reiterated that any discussion on the multilateral register for GI wines and spirits must be linked to the ones on the extension of TRIPS article 23 to all GIs, as well as to the requirement of disclosing the source of biological material in patent applications.
More information @ http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news14_e/trip_12dec14_e.htm and on IP-Watch @ WTO: Talks On GI Register Start, Tied To Other Negotiations In July 2015 Deadline
With respect to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), on top of the Lisbon Agreement reform, for which we have recently updated you , GIs have recently become a burning topic of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT).
In particular, at the last SCT meeting (Geneva, 24-26 November), France and Spain formally joined the proposal concerning the protection of GIs and country names in the domain name system (http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/sct/en/sct_31/sct_31_8_rev_2.pdf), which had been officially submitted in March by the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Moldova and Switzerland. The EU, Monaco, Mexico, Portugal, Jamaica, Croatia and oriGIn expressed their appreciation for the proposal.
More information on IP-Watch @ Another Setback For Design Law Treaty At WIPO; GIs In Contention
In 2015, oriGIn will keep following such negotiations and expressing our views in favor of a fair and transparent legal framework for the protection of GIs.
Bilateral Agreements on GIs: How to keep updated on the EU Agreements
Over the years, the European Union (EU) has been very active in concluding a number of bilateral agreements to secure the protection of European GIs in foreign markets (as well as the protection of GIs from third countries in the EU). As oriGIn has secured a seat in the newly established European Commission Civil Dialogue Group (CDG) on international aspects of agriculture, we will keep monitoring very closely all the agreements touching upon GIs currently negotiated by the EU.
To help our Members follow such complex web of agreements and negotiations (so that you can inform us about your expectations and we can transmit your message to Brussels!) we have created a new section on our web site where you can find all relevant information about the EU Agreements touching upon GI, divided as follows:
Completed negotiations (Agreements not yet ratified)
Sustainable development: oriGIn joins forces to promote GIs in Least Developed Countries
Over the years, oriGIn has been cooperating with several international organisations working on the promotion of GIs as a sustainable development tool.
In this context, on 16 December 2014, we participated in the United Nations Seminar on “Voices from rural communities in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on promoting traditional food products and the territories through geographical indications (GIs)”, organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The experience of the oriGIn global membership, especially the one of well-established GIs in developing countries, is extremely useful for producers and potential GIs in LDCs.
More information @ http://unctad.org/en/Pages/MeetingDetails.aspx?meetingid=714
oriGIn: Manual on GI protection in the BRICs now available in Spanish
The oriGIn manual “Protecting the Geographical Indications in Emerging Economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China – BRICs Countries)” is now available in Spanish.
This has been possible thanks to the cooperation with our Spanish member “Asociacion española de denominaciones de origen” (Origen España), which has ensured the translation in Spanish. This is another example of successful cooperation within our global network.
To download the manual, please log-in to the Members Area
