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30/01/2020 – Members Voice, India: GIs, A refreshing IP tool, by Latha Nair, K&S Partners
My first brush with geographical indications (GIs) was when I joined my firm, K&S Partners, in March 1998. My mentor in the profession, Rajendra Kumar, entrusted me with a trademark opposition to be filed in Colombia. The mark to be…
06/01/2020 – China – EU: The text of the GIs Agreement is now public
Following the conclusion of the EU/China stand-alone GIs Agreement in November, earlier in December the European Commission published the text, which may be subject to further modifications as a result of the legal revision. The annexes V and VI (list of…
13/12/2019 – Signature of the USMCA trade pact (US, Mexico, Canada) and implications for GIs
On 13 December, the US, Mexico and Canada signed the USMCA. The trade agreement talks had been concluded in October 2018 and an earlier version of the text had been published then. As for GIs (Section E, articles 20.29 to…
21/11/2019 – EU-Singapore: Entry into force of the EUSFTA
On 21 November, the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (EUSFTA) entered into force. The agreement facilitated the protection in Singapore of 138 EU GIs , which had to go through a national opposition phase. You can check the status of the GI you…
06/11/2019 – Information Session discusses the UDRP extension to GIs
On 6 November, in the contest of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT), WIPO hosted an “Information Session” on GIs. Three topics were addressed: Evaluation of “genericness”; GIs as IP titles in…
26/11/2019 – WIPO: With the EU accession, the Geneva Act will enter into force in February 2020
On 26 November, the EU deposited with the WIPO its instrument of accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications. Being the EU the fifth eligible party to join this treaty , according to…
25/11/2019 – Guest contribution: Australia: Food GIs, What is Their Worth for Australia? By Paula Zito, PhD, University of Adelaide
On the 9th of December, Australia and the EU will commence the sixth round of negotiations relating to the Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement (AUSEUFTA). The preceding five rounds of negotiations have highlighted the importance of GIs protection in trade…
18/11/2019 – Non Agri GIs: New studies by the EU Commission and the European Parliament Think Tank
On 18 November 2019, the DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission organized in Brussels a workshop to discuss the economic aspects of GI protection for non-agricultural products. It was the opportunity to present the…
25/11/2019 – China: New official national GI logo
China has gone through a process of reorganization of its intellectual property system. The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) is now the national authority in charge of GIs. On October 16, according to the principle of unifying the identification of…
06/11/2019 – China-EU: conclusion of the stand-alone GIs Agreement negotiations
On 6 November, China and the EU concluded the negotiations on a stand-alone GIs agreement, which will protect 100 European GIs in China and 100 Chinese GIs in the EU. The Agreement (please note that this is not the final version,…
25/11/2019 – Practical information on GIs registration and enforcement rules implemented in Canada as a result of the CETA
To fulfil its obligations under the CETA, in 2017 the Canadian government passed the Bill C-30 (“An Act to implement the CETA between Canada and the European Union and its Member States and to provide for certain other measures”). Thanks to…
22/10/2019 – Records of a webinar and other material on GIs protection in China
Last August, a webinar on the protection of GIs in China was organized by CHINABRAND IP CONSULTING, an associate member of oriGIn. If you have missed it, you can watch the records @ Please find here more information by CHINABRAND…
22/10/2019 – Proposal to strengthen GIs controls under discussion in the Swiss Parliament
In October 2016, with the support of oriGIn, the Suisse Association of AOP/IGP had organized a seminar in Lausanne to discuss the best practices in Europe on GIs market controls. Italian groups had attended the event and presented the role…
18/10/2019 – FTA Mercosur-UE: The prior users of names corresponding to European GIs will be made public before the conclusion of the agreement
In September, the Intellectual Property chapter (including its annexes concerning the list of GIs to be protected under the agreement) of the EU/Mercosur FTA were published for information purposes. The text might undergo further modifications in the process of legal…
09/10/2019 – GIs introduced in the Ukrainian legislation
On October 9, the Law No. 123-IX “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Improving the Legal Protection of Geographical Indications” introduced GIs in the Ukrainian legislation. In line with the definition provided in the TRIPs Agreement, GI are…
18/10/2019 – The Geneva Act of the WIPO Lisbon Agreement poised to enter into force early in 2020
At the beginning of October, during the Fifty-Ninth Series of Meetings of the WIPO Assemblies in Geneva, Samoa and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea joined the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications.…
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02/10/2019 – oriGIn Peru: Helping Peruvian groups to better respond to the main challenges faced by Geographical Indications
Today in Geneva, during the Fifty-Ninth Series of Meetings of the WIPO Assemblies, oriGIn and the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) of Peru have signed the agreement for the establishment of oriGIn…
30/08/2019 – The Supreme Court of Spain ruling on the Manchego case is another good precedent for GIs
Following the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Judgment in Case C-614/17 earlier this year, in which it found that a name protected in the EU as PDO/PGI may be evoked through the use of figurative signs, in…