M. Geuze
concerns protection through trademark law. Trademark law may provide two types of
protection for geographical indications. On the one hand, protection may be provided
against the registration and use of geographical indications as trademarks. On the
other hand, protection may be provided through collective, guarantee or certification
marks. In contrast to the general means of protection of the first and second
categories, the third category of protection concerns means specifically dedicated to
the protection of geographical indications. Some of these means provide sui generis
protection for geographical indications that relate to products with specifically defined
characteristics or methods of production; other means apply without such specific
definitions.
The Doha Work Programme30
At the Fourth Ministerial Conference, held in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001,
ministers adopted the Doha Ministerial Declaration,31 which provides the mandate for
negotiations on a range of subjects, including on agriculture and services, as well as
issues concerning the implementation of the various agreements that form part of the
WTO Agreement. Paragraph 18 of the Doha Declaration in particular says that
With a view to completing the work started in the Council for Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (Council for TRIPS) on the implementation of
Article 23(4), we agree to negotiate the establishment of a multilateral system of
notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits by the
Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference. We note that issues related to the
extension of the protection of geographical indications provided for in Article 23 to
products other than wines and spirits will be addressed in the Council for TRIPS
pursuant to paragraph 12 of this Declaration.
The first sentence extends the mandate of Article 23.4 for the negotiation of the
multilateral system of notification and registration of GIs for wines to spirits. The
second sentence, which deals with the protection of GIs for other products, refers to
paragraph 12 of the Doha Declaration, which reads in turn that
Negotiations on outstanding implementation issues shall be an integral part of the
[Doha] Work Programme ... (1) where we provide a specific negotiating mandate in
this Declaration, the relevant implementation issues shall be addressed under that
mandate; (2) the other outstanding implementation issues shall be addressed as a
matter of priority by the relevant WTO bodies, which shall report to the Trade
Negotiations Committee, established under paragraph 46 below, by the end of 2002
for appropriate action.
Members have different views on the interpretation of Paragraph 18 with regard to
the issue of “extension”: proponents of extension (see below) have advanced that
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Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy