IP Management Review Form. Protection of Geographical Indications

Transcription

1 Submitting Date July 28, 2004 IP Management Review Form Kind of paper Report Japanese 地理的表示の保護 Title English Protection of Geographical Indications Name Budi Suratno (Roman) Budi Suratno Author Organization Name Organization Japanese 東京工業大学社会理工学研究科経営工学専攻 English Japanese English Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology Tokyo Institute of Technology ( ローマ字 ) Contact Name Yoshitoshi Tanaka Address 東京都港区芝浦 キャンパス イノベーションセンタ ー 902 号室 Tel FAX 番号 Mail address ytanaka@me.titech.ac.jp Copy 30 部 1

2 Abstract and Key Words Title (Japanese) Title (English) 地理的表示の保護 Protection of Geographical Indications 全角 36 文字 9 行 =324 文字 Abstract (Japanese) Abstract (English) 半角 59 文字 21 行 =1239 文字 Abstract WTO members and their nationals are increasingly recognising that geographical indications, like trademarks are valuable as marketing tools in the global economy. In Article 22(1) of the Agreement, geographical indications are defined as indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or a locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin. In commerce, geographical indications may be valuable assets, because their capability to acquire a high reputation. For reasons of misappropriation, counterfeiting, misleading, their protection is needed to avoid consumers from deceptions. There are many functions of geographical indications: as source identifiers, indicators of quality, business interests, and an area of intellectual property rights. Since the enactment of the TRIPs Agreement, international protection of geographical indications have become an important issue because geographical indications are increasingly recognised as marketing tools in the global economy. With the reality of market globalization, geographical indications may be used to protect products of certain regions from misappropriation as well as to protect consumers from deceptions. As an area of intellectual property rights, the use of geographical indications is comparable with the use of trademarks. Key Words Japanese 地理的 表示 原産 TRIP 保護 (5 words) English Geographical, indication, origin, TRIPs, Protection 2

3 1. Introduction When we look at words such as Champagne, Cognag, Roquefort, Havana, Burgundy, Tequilla, and many others, then we realize that those words have a special characteristic. They usually refer to famous places which relate to products of a certain nature and quality. The common feature of those words is their geographical connotations, or their meaning to designate places, or towns, or regions, or countries. However, there is an interesting aspect from such words; they tend to denote products rather than their own places. In commerce, these words may be valuable assets, because they are able to acquire a high reputation, and they are often exposed to misappropriation, counterfeiting, so their protection is highly desired. As an intellectual property area, they are known as geographical indications. Since the enactment of the TRIPs Agreement, geographical indications have become an important issue, particularly in the term of its protection. WTO members and their nationals are increasingly recognising that geographical indications, like trademarks are valuable as marketing tools in the global economy. Geographical indications for the purposes of the Agreement, is a type of intellectual property. In Article 22(1) of the Agreement, geographical indications are defined indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or a locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin. There are many functions of geographical indications. Geographical may serve as source identifiers; to indicate goods as originating in a particular territory, or region, or locality in that region. Geographical indications are also indicators of quality; to let consumers know that goods come from an area where a given quality, reputation, or characteristic of the goods is essentially attributable to their geographic origin. Then, geographical indications are business interests; to promote the goods of particular area. 3

4 Furthermore, geographical indications are intellectual property rights; they are eligible for the protection from infringements and/or unfair competitions. The TRIPs Agreement was negotiated with the intent to provide greater protection of intellectual property rights worldwide which is based on the same treatment principle (the TRIPs Agreement). However, there is still a debate in relation to the protection of geographical indications. The debate over the protection of geographical indications particularly focuses on economically significant industries such as wines and spirits (Goldberg, 2001). The objective of this report is to discuss the protection of geographical indications. In this report, firstly I will present definition of geographical indications in glands. Next, I will discuss the protection issue on geographical indications in the national level. Then, I will look at multilateral treaties relating to geographical indications and aspects of international protection for geographical indications. Furthermore, I will look at some provisions in the TRIPs Agreement relating to additional protection of geographical indications for wines and spirits and exception provisions. Finally, in conclusion, I am offering my opinions regarding to protection of geographical indications and its impacts in global market. 2. What is Geographical Indication? Even though the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property does not provides explicitly the expression of geographical indications, but Article 1(2) of the Convention defines that indications of source and appellation of origin are subject to industrial property protection (Paris Convention, 1979). In this regard, there is a distinction between indications of source and appellations of origin. Indications of source means any expression or signs used to indicate that a product or service originating from a country, a specific place or region. On the contrary, appellation of origin means the geographical name of a country, a region or a specific place which serves to designate a product originating therein where its 4

5 characteristic qualities are influenced by the geographic environment, including natural or human factors or both natural and human factors (Lisbon Agreement, 1979). This means that the use of an appellation of origin requires a quality link between the product and the place of production. On the other hand, the use of indications of source on a given product is subject to the condition that this product originates from the place designated by the indication of source. Accordingly, appellation of origin is a certain kind of indication of source, whereas an indication of source comprises all appellation of origin. However, in general use, an indication of sources is has become a designation of sources which are not considered to be appellations of origin (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998). This implies that under the Paris Convention for Protection of Industrial Property, basically the protection of geographical indications aims to protect consumers from deceptions. Under the TRIPs Agreement, as stated in Article 22(1) of the Agreement, it implies that, a geographical indication is an identification of a special product which is different from other products, because of the place of origin. Accordingly, the TRIPs Agreement and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property have the same objective in relation to geographical indications, to protect consumers from deceptions, and to avoid a product against misappropriations. Geographical indications as widely known are used to describe the protection of place names, symbols which indicate a certain geographic origin of a given product (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998). In this regard, it includes all existing means of protection of such names and symbols, whether to indicate qualities of a product which are influenced by its geographical origin, such as appellations of origin, or just to indicate the place of origin of the product, such as indications of source. This definition also covers symbols, because geographical indications are not only constituted by names, such as a town, a region ( direct geographical indication ), but they also consist of symbols without naming 5

6 the place of origin, eg. Eiffel Tower for Paris, the Matterhorn for Switzerland, or the Tower Bridge for London. As a special kind of distinctive signs used in commerce, geographical indications are different from trademarks. A trademark identifies the enterprise which offers certain products and services in the market, whereas a geographical indication identifies a geographical area where one or several enterprises produce a certain kind of product for which the geographical indication is used. Thus, there is no real owner of a geographical indication in the sense that one party or enterprise may exclude another party or enterprise from using of a geographical indication. However, each party or enterprise which is located in a certain area to which the geographical indication refers to, has the right to use the geographical indication for products in that area. Yet, in order to be eligible for the protection, any party or enterprise that wishes to use a geographical indication may be subject to compliance with a particular requirement (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998), such as a regulation relating the use of a geographical indication. 3. Protection of Geographical Indications Article 24(3) of the TRIPs Agreement provides that a member shall not diminish the protection of geographical indications that existed in that member immediately prior to the entry into force of the WTO Agreement. Protection means the right to prevent unauthorised party from using a geographical indication, either for products which do not originate from the geographical place indicated, or for reasons not complying with prescribed quality standards (TRIPs Agreement). Another important aspect related to the issue of protection, is to avoid geographical indications from becoming generic expressions (Lisbon Agreement, 1979). In respect of protection, geographical indications may be protected in the national level and/or international level. However, in order to be eligible for the protection, a geographical 6

7 indication should meet the definition as stated in Article 22(1) of the TRIPs Agreement (Audier, 2000). 3.1 Protection of Geographical Indication in the National Level In the national level, generally there are many forms of protection on geographical indications such as Special Title of Protection, Registration of Collective Marks or Certification Marks, and the Law of Unfair Competition (Passing-Off) or the Trademark Law (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998). Article 24(9) of the TRIPs Agreement provides that there should be no obligation under this Agreement to protect geographical indications which are not or cease to be protected in their country of origin or which have fallen into disuse in that country. This means that if a geographical indication is not protected in the country of origin, its protection under the Agreement is optional (Audier, 2000). Therefore, the protection of geographical indications in national level is very important in this regard. Special Titles of Protection A special title of protection is modelled from the French Law of May 6, 1919 (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998). According to this law, an appellation of origin consists of the name of a country, a region, or locality that serves to designate a product originating therein, the quality and characteristic of which are due to the geographical environment, including both natural and human factors (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998). This means that only such products which originate from a certain area and owe specific quality to their place of origin are protected by this law. Only products which comply with the quality standard are protected by this law. Registration of Collective Marks or Certification Marks 7

8 Geographical indications may also be protected in national level by system of Collective Marks or Certification Marks (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998). Collective Marks and Certification Marks usually depend on the applicable national law. They may serve to indicate the origin of goods or services, thus to some extent they may be suitable for the protection of geographical indications (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998). A Collective Mark is a mark which may be only used by members of a collective body (Australian Trademarks Act at s. 162, 1995). Such a body can be an association or cooperative manufacturers, producers or traders. The Collective Mark is owned by the association which exclusively grants its member to use it (Australian Trademarks Act at s. 165, 1995). Normally, the use of Collective Marks is governed by rules, which has to be submitted to the Intellectual Property Office together with the application for registration. Once a geographical indication has been registered as a Collective Mark, the association has the right to prohibit its use by any person who is not member of the association. However, the registration of a geographical indication as a Collective Mark may not prevent the mark from becoming a generic term. Yet, this system contains requirements of the use which may be subject to the cancellation of registration, when the Collective mark is not continuously used. On the contrary to Collective Marks, Certification Marks are not owned by a collective body such as an association of producers, but by a certification authority (Australian Trademarks Act at s. 175, 1995). Such an authority may be a local council or an association or a commission which is not engaged in the production or the trade of the product concerned. In this regard, the owner of certification marks must ensure that the goods bearing the certification mark pose a certified quality. A certification mark may be used to certify the origin of products or services. In relation to the registration of a geographical indication as a certification mark, the same principle as for the collective mark registration may apply. Once a geographical indication has 8

9 been registered as a certification mark, everybody may use it under requirements that its products should meet a certain quality standard. The Law of Unfair Competition As mandated by Article 22 (2) (a)-(b), member countries should prevent anything which might mislead consumers as to the geographical origin of goods and any use of geographical indications which constitute unfair competition. Under the unfair competition law principles, in order to be protected, a given geographical indication must have acquired a certain reputation or goodwill (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998). In other words, consumers must associate the geographical indication with the place of origin of its products or services. Furthermore, it is required that the use of a certain geographical indication on goods or services not originating from the geographic area is misleading, so that consumers are deceived against the true place of the product or service (Australian Trade Practice Act at ss. 52 and 53, 1974). In this regard, proof of damages caused by such misleading practices is required. In order to be protected under the Law of Unfair Competition, a geographical indication should have a reputation (World Intellectual Property Organization, 1998). Therefore, a geographical indication which does not have an established reputation yet in the market, may not be protected by the Law of Unfair Competition. Yet, a geographical indication which has not been used for a certain time may lose its reputation and may no longer be protected under unfair competition law principles. Under the Trademark Law, a geographical indication may be protected by refusing or invalidating trademarks that consist wholly or partly of a geographical indication which misleads consumers about the real geographic origin of the goods (Australian Trademarks Act at s. 61, 1995). This kind of protection may be accorded in members countries pursuant to Article 22(3) of the TRIPs Agreement. 9

10 3.2 Protection of Geographical Indications in the International Level There are three international agreements relating to the protection of geographical indications in addition to the TRIPS Agreement of 1994: the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods, and the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration. The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property ("Paris Convention") of 1883 was the first international agreement relating to the protection of geographical indications. It requires members to seize or prohibit imports with false indications of source, producer, manufacturer, or merchant pursuant to Article 10. Furthermore, Article 10 bis (3), regarding unfair competition, is aimed to prohibit indications that are liable to mislead the public as to the nature, the manufacturing process, the characteristics, the suitability for their purpose, or the quantity of the goods. In this regard, the Paris Convention prevents only the importation of goods containing false indications of geographic origin and is no longer applicable to indications of geographic origin that are merely misleading or liable to mislead (Goldberg, 2001).s The Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods The Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods ( Madrid Agreement ) of 1891 protects geographical indications by applying the implementation of border measures (Madrid Agreement at Art. 1, 1958) and preventing the 10

11 dilution of geographical indications into generic terms (at Art. 4). The Madrid Agreement provides protections against misleading geographical indications as stipulated in Article 1(1), and in Article 3 bis, it prohibits the use,...of false representations on the product itself and in advertising or other forms of public announcements (Goldberg, 2001). Interestingly, in Article 4, the Madrid Agreement also includes protection which prohibits member countries from treating geographical indications of wines as generic terms. The Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and Their International Registration The Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and Their International Registration ( Lisbon Agreement ) is provided to achieve effective and enforceable protection for geographical indications. The Lisbon Agreement provides for protections of geographical indications through an international registration system (Lisbon Agreement at Art. 5, 1979). This international registration system for appellations of origins is important, because under the Lisbon Agreement, geographical indications could be protected as it was for trademarks (Goldberg, 2001). Article 1 provides that once a geographical indication is registered at the International Bureau of WIPO, it is protected in other member countries (Lisbon Agreement at Art. 1, 1979). As stated in Article 3 of the Lisbon Agreement, the member countries must prohibit imitations under their respective domestic laws, including the use of terms like type or kind or the like on protected products. Furthermore, Article 6 provides that geographical indication cannot be considered to become generic in any other member country, as long as it is protected in the country of origin. 4. The TRIPs Agreement on the Protection of Geographical Indications 11

12 Instead of protecting for a variety of intellectual property rights, the TRIPs Agreement also provides protection for geographical indications. Under this Agreement, provisions relating to Geographical indications are indicated in Article of the Agreement. Article 22(1) defines geographical indications and limits the scope of the definition to products or goods, thereby excluding services (Goldberg, 2001). The definition of geographical indications, which depend on geographic origins and characteristics of a product, refers to place names that are used to identify a product, for example, Champagne, Burgundy or Coonawarra (Davison, 1998). In this regard, Article 22 protects only products for which a relationship between their qualities or characteristics and their origin can be proved. 4.1 Additional Protection for Geographical Indications for Wines and Spirits Article 23 of TRIPs arguably provides stronger protection than does article 22 for geographical indications used in connection with wines and spirits. In this regard, member countries are required to provide interested parties with the legal means to prevent the use of a geographical indication for wines or spirits not originating in the place indicated by the geographical indication. The most relevant reasons that geographical indications for wines and spirits deserve stronger protection under Article 23 of the TRIPs Agreement, is their reputation. Long time ago, wines and spirits from particular regions have acquired reputation because of their qualities. Unlike Article 22, under this provision no requirement that the use of the geographical indication be misleading in order to be enforceable, except in relation to the registration of trade marks containing a geographical indication for wines and spirits. Furthermore, use of a false geographical indication for wines and spirits will be prohibited even where the true place of origin is indicated or where it is accompanied by terms such as kind, type, or style. Briefly, this provision certainly has an objective to balance between producer concerns from 12

13 misappropriation of products, and consumer expectations from being not deceived regarding to wines and spirits. 4.2 International Negotiations; Exceptions In general, Article 24 of the TRIPs Agreement provides exceptions that limit Articles 22 and 23. Based on Article 24(4), continued and similar use of a geographical indication in respect of wines and spirits by other parties in the member countries for ten years prior to the enactment of the TRIPs Agreement is permitted (TRIPs Agreement). This means that, even though Article 23 of the Agreement specifically provides greater protection for wines and spirits, but under Article 24(4), the protection is limited to the use after the Agreement enters into force. An example for the exception of continuous use of Article 24(4) is Budweiser beer (Goldberg, 2001). The term Budweiser has been used in such a manner so as to have a particular meaning for beer consumers as a source identifier, and it was adopted by the Anheuser-Busch Company as a trademark. In fact, Budweiser beer has been brewed in Ceske Budejovice, Bohemia, known as Budweis in Germany, for hundred years. In this case, the TRIPs Agreement allows the use of this trademark, as long as the continuous use has occurred before the enactment of the TRIPs Agreement. Another exception is Article 24(5) dealing with the relationship of geographical indications to trademarks. With respect to the registration of trademarks, a trademark registered in good faith before the enactment of the TRIPs Agreement remains valid, and a trademark consisting of a geographical indication is valid if the geographical indication has not yet been registered in its country of origin. 13

14 5. Conclusions In commerce, geographical indications may be valuable assets, because their capability to acquire a high reputation. For reasons of misappropriation, counterfeiting, misleading, their protection is needed to avoid consumers from deceptions. There are many functions of geographical indications: as source identifiers, indicators of quality, business interests, and an area of intellectual property rights. Geographical indications may be protected nationally and internationally. In the national level, they may be protected by special regulations, or under the law of unfair competition, or under the law of trademarks. On the contrary to the protection in national level, in the international level, there are three treaties relating to the protection of geographical indications prior to the TRIPs Agreement. Since the enactment of the TRIPs Agreement, international protection of geographical indications have become an important issue because geographical indications are increasingly recognised as marketing tools in the global economy. With the reality of market globalization, geographical indications may be used to protect products of certain regions from misappropriation as well as to protect consumers from deceptions. As an area of intellectual property rights, the use of geographical indications is comparable with the use of trademarks. Geographical indications and trademarks benefit consumers by providing them with reliable information and assurances of authenticity. They also respond to concerns of certain producers, particularly local communities, more effectively than other Intellectual Property Rights do. In particular, rights to control geographical indications and trademarks can be maintained indefinitely, and they do not confer a monopoly right over the use of certain information, but simply limit the class of people who can use a specific symbol. Furthermore, they protect goodwill and reputation acquired by a group of producers over centuries. In this regard, they may serve to maintain traditional heritages and practices. 14

15 Bibliography Books and Articles Abbott, Frederick, et.al. (1999), The International Intellectual Property Syatem: Commentary and Materials, Kluwer Law International, Netherlands. Armistead, Jeffrey. (2000), Whose Cheese Is It Anyway? Correctly Slicing the European Regulation Concerning Protections for Geographic Indications, Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems, pp Audier, J. (2000), TRIPs Agreement: Geographical Indications, Directorate General for Trade of European Commission, Luxembourg, pp Colston, Chaterine. (1999), Principle of Intellectual Property Law, Cavendish Publishing Limited, London. Davison, Mark J. (1998), Fungsi Nama Geografis Di Dalam Perdagangan, Padjadjaran Journal of Law and Social Sciences, XXVII, No. 9, pp Downes, David. R. (2000), How Intellectual Property Could Be a Tool to Protect Traditional Knowledge, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, pp Farley, Christine H. (2000), Conflicts Between U.S. Law And International Treaties Concerning Geographical Indications, Whittier Law Review, pp Goldberg, Stacy D. (2001), Comment: Who Will Raise The White Flag? The Battle Between The United States And The European Union Over The Protection Of Geographical Indications, Journal of International Economic Law, University of Pennsylvania, pp Kraft, Alexander V G. (2001), Trademarks In The International Arena - International Conventions And Agreements: New Wine In Old Bottles, Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, Uiversity of San Diego, pp Mosca, Jenny. (2000), The Battle Between the Cheeses Signifies the Ongoing Struggle to Protect Designations of Origin Within the European Community and in the United States in Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Gorgonzola v. Kaserei Champignon Hofmeister GmbH & Co. KG, Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, pp Su, Evelyn. (2000), Comment: The Winners And The Losers: The Agreement On Trade- Related Aspects Of Intellectual Property Rights And Its Effects On Developing Countries, Houston Journal of International Law, pp Tobiassen, Robert M. (2000), On Common Ground, The Transnational Lawyer, School of Law University of the Pacific, pp

16 United States Patents and Trademarks Office, Geographical Indications. (2001), [Accessed: 16 May 2001] World Intellectal Property Organization. (1998), Intellectual Property Reading Material, Second Edition, Geneva, pp World Intellectual Property Organization. (2002), What Is A Geographical Indication?, [Accessed: 16 May 2002] Treaties and Legislations Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. Australian Trade Marks Act 1995 Australian Trade Practice Act 1974 Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellation of Origin and their International Registration, as amended on September 28, 1979 Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods, 1958 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, as amended on September 28,