Wine Law

3 2. Geographical Indications and Generic Names Geographical indications identify a good as originating in the territory of a certain country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin (Article 22(1) of the TRIPS Agreement 7 ). They do not protect the products of a specific producer but rather confer to all producers from a given geographical area the exclusive right to use a distinctive sign to identify their products. They are owned and exercised collectively 8 . Like other intellectual property rights, geographical indications are established and protected by the laws and regulations applicable in a given territory (territoriality principle) 9 . However, this does not mean that producers are free to use a foreign geographical indication for their own products, relying solely on the fact that it not registered in their country. First, this would constitute a false or at least misleading indication of the source of the goods, which is prohibited by all international agreements dealing with geographical indications. Furthermore, modern international agreements require the contracting countries to protect geographical indications registered in other countries as well. The 1883 Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property 10 prohibits in Article 10 direct or indirect use of false indications of origin, which is to be sanctioned by seizure of the goods concerned. Additionally, Article 10 bis introduces protection against false or misleading indications of source as a means of repressing unfair competition 11 . The 1891 Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods 12 provides for seizure of all goods bearing a false or misleading indication of source (Article 1) and further prohibits the use of deceptive indications in advertising (Article 3 bis ). These two multilateral agreements deal with indications of source, which is a term wider in meaning than geographical indications, since it only refers to the geographical origin of the product but does not imply any special quality, characteristic or reputation 7 Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS): Annex 1C to the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization, signed in Marrakesh on 15 April 1994. 8 F. Addor & A. Grazioli, p. 867 & 869. 9 WIPO document SCT/9/5, para. 4. 10 As amended on 28 September 1979. 11 M. Blakeney, p. 12. 12 As revised at Lisbon on October 31, 1958.