Geographical indications first appeared in Article 2, paragraph 2, item b of the EU Regulation on the Protection of Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin of Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs (No. 2081/92/EEC): “Geographical indications are the names of a region, a particular place or, in individual cases, a country, which indicate that an agricultural product or food originates from that region, place or country and that its special quality, reputation or other characteristics are attributable to its geographical origin. And its production or manufacture and preliminary preparation are completed locally.”
Later, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights stipulated in Article 22, paragraph 1 that so-called geographical indications are marks indicating that a product originates from the territory of a member of the World Trade Organization or from a region or place in that territory, and the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of the product are mainly associated with the geographical origin.
The expressions of the concept of geographical indications in these two documents are basically consistent, among which the expression in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is the recognized standard definition, and my country’s Trademark Law adopts this expression. Article 16, paragraph 2 of the Trademark Law of my country stipulates: “Geographical indications refer to signs indicating that a certain product originates from a certain region, and the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of the product are mainly determined by the natural or cultural factors of the region.”
Countries around the world adopt the following models for the legal protection of geographical indications, including special legislation, anti-unfair competition law, trademark law, and mixed legislation. France is a country with special legislation. On May 6, 1919, France promulgated the “Law on Appellations of Origin” (the most recent amendment was on July 6, 1996) to comprehensively protect its own names of origin.
In French law, there are two major types of appellation of origin protection systems: general system and special system. There are two procedures for the generation of general appellation of origin rights: judicial procedure and administrative procedure. Special systems apply to wine and soju.
Japan and Sweden are represented by anti-unfair competition laws to protect geographical indications. In 1934, Japan passed the “Law on the Prevention of Unfair Competition” in the Diet. Japan’s Anti-Unfair Competition Law prohibits the act of counterfeiting the origin of goods and the use of signs that mislead people about the origin of goods as unfair competition that causes confusion or mistake. Those whose business interests may be damaged by such behavior can request to stop such behavior. If the person who commits such behavior is intentional or negligent, he or she can be required to compensate for the losses and take measures to restore reputation.
Countries represented by the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States protect geographical indications through trademark law. Most developed countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, and the European Union mainly use trademark law to register geographical indications as collective trademarks or certification trademarks for protection.
The protection of geographical indications in the United States can generally be divided into three specific protection methods: protecting the name of origin by registering a collective trademark; protecting the name of origin by registering a certification trademark; and stipulating that the parties can choose to protect by registering a collective trademark or a certification trademark.
The mixed legislative protection method is represented by Spain, that is, in addition to the Trademark Office, an independent Appellation of Origin Office is set up. Relevant parties can obtain protection for the right to the appellation of origin by choosing to apply for registration of collective trademarks or certification trademarks or by choosing to apply for registration of the appellation of origin. If the parties choose both protection methods, they can obtain dual protection.