M. Geuze
Article 24.2
In November 1996, the TRIPS Council initiated, under Article 24.2 of the TRIPS
Agreement, its review of the application of the provisions of the section of the
agreement pertaining to geographical indications. In the context of this review, a
checklist of questions was prepared concerning various aspects of national regimes for
the protection of geographical indications.27 Following the submission of responses by
members, the WTO Secretariat issued a summary paper of these responses, as
requested by the council.28 Following the receipt of further responses, the document
has meanwhile been updated once.29
This summary paper provides, in its first section, a general overview of the
various means of protection that exist in this area of law. The succeeding seven
sections of the summary paper enter into the details that members provided as to the
following features of the systems they are employing:
(a) the various definitions of protectable subject matter and any other substantive
criteria that may need to be complied with in order for a geographical indication to be
eligible for protection;
(b) procedures applied in relation to the formal recognition of geographical
indications as being eligible for protection;
(c) who is entitled to use a protected geographical indication and any procedures
that apply to obtain such an entitlement; the duration of protection of geographical
indications; arrangements regarding cancellation or forfeiture of geographical
indications; and arrangements for monitoring the use of geographical indications;
(d) protection available to prevent unauthorised use of geographical indications,
including use by those who are not from within the area to which the geographical
indication refers and those who are eligible or authorised users but are not using the
geographical indication properly;
(e) enforcement procedures;
(f) the relationship of geographical indications to trademarks, including
protection provided to prevent the registration as trademarks of signs containing or
consisting of geographical indications.
The summary paper treats the differing means of protection in three broad
categories. The first relates to laws focusing on business practices. Typically, the issue
at stake in legal proceedings regarding the use of a geographical indication under such
laws is not whether the geographical indication as such is eligible for protection but,
rather, whether a specific act involving the use of a geographical indication has
contravened the general standards contained in laws covering unfair competition,
consumer protection, trade descriptions, food standards, etc. The second category
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Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy