Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback Edited Legal Collections Data

Eugui, David Vivas; Spennemann, Christoph --- "The Treatment of Geographical Indications in Recent Regional and Bilateral Free Trade Agreements" [2006] ELECD 336; in Pugatch, Perez Meir (ed), "The Intellectual Property Debate" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: The Intellectual Property Debate

Editor(s): Pugatch, Perez Meir

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420383

Section: Chapter 16

Section Title: The Treatment of Geographical Indications in Recent Regional and Bilateral Free Trade Agreements

Author(s): Eugui, David Vivas; Spennemann, Christoph

Number of pages: 40

Extract:

16. The treatment of geographical
indications in recent regional and
bilateral free trade agreements
David Vivas Eugui and Christoph Spennemann

I. INTRODUCTION

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS) represents an important step toward the universal recognition of
geographical indications (GIs) protection. While previous agreements con-
cluded under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) including the Madrid1 and the Lisbon2 agreements have already
regulated related legal figures such as indications of source and appellations
of origin, the TRIPS agreement is today the standard subscribed to by all
Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and therefore the one
with widest international recognition. The TRIPS agreement contains some
minimum standards for the protection of geographical indications, includ-
ing definition, scope, legal means, exceptions and international negotiations.
It is also important to mention that the TRIPS agreement is subject, as any
other WTO agreement, to the dispute settlement understanding of the
WTO, making its standards `enforceable' among Members.
GIs have been under the spotlight of international trade discussions since
the adoption of the TRIPS agreement. These discussions have proved to be
very controversial in the WTO as well as in other forums. Interestingly, unlike
other cases such as discussion on public health there is not a North­South
divide but different groups of countries ­ inclusive of developed and devel-
oping countries alike ­ holding different positions on several critical issues.3
This situation is the reflection of different cultural settings, legal traditions,
economic value attached to ...