A tentative way to continue conversing about geographical indications (GIs) at the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on trademarks and GIs was tabled by the committee chair today. The suggested approach includes a questionnaire to member states on the different ways GIs are addressed by national and regional systems. Meanwhile, a potential design law treaty was pushed off to the next WIPO General Assembly, held in autumn.
The 37th session of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) is taking place from 27-30 March.
Today, SCT Chair Adil El Maliki, director general of the Moroccan Industrial and Commercial Property Office, issued a document [pdf] seeking to draft a programme of work on GIs at the SCT.
Geographical indications (GIs) are names on products that have specific geographical origin and derive particular qualities or a reputation due to that origin. Famous GIs are gruyere cheese and tequila.
Information Session on GIs
On 28 March, an information session on GIs was organised, and included speakers [pdf] from producers, such as the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, and Colombian coffee growers; governments, such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and those in the European Commission and the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI).
The information session was divided in two parts. First, the features, experiences and practices of the different national and regional GI protection systems; second the protection of GIs on the internet, and the protection of GIs and country names in the domain name system.
In an unusual way, the information session was not webcast, and was closed to press. No reason for such a closed session was given by the WIPO secretariat, and some delegations told Intellectual Property Watch that the webcast of such information session would have been useful to their capitals. The presentations of the session are expected to be posted on the WIPO website in a few days, according to the secretariat.
El Maliki said in his document that following the information session, as a further step in order to foster conversation, the secretariat would be asked to draft a list of questions for the next session of the SCT, which could form the basis of a questionnaire for member states and observers.
Chair’s Document
During informal consultations on the chair’s document this afternoon, according to El Maliki, the process of the drafting of the question was discussed and members preferred a member-driven approach to this drafting, in which WIPO members would provide their questions to the secretariat, to be compiled.
The topics of the questionnaire would include the different national and regional GI systems, including the scope of protection, application and registration procedures, and the definition and basis for protection. The questionnaire would also include the protection of GIs on the internet, and geographical indications and country names in the domain name system, according to the document. Topics on those subjects would include unfair competition on the internet involving GIs, and the protection of GIs under the country code top-level domain.
On the protection of GIs in the domain name system, El Maliki said a step-by-step approach has been agreed. The WIPO secretariat will be asked to give a state of play, he said, with a clear timeframe of each stage of the future work on this issue.
An updated suggested work plan is expected to be delivered tomorrow morning.
No Discussion on Industrial Design Treaty
As suggested by the 2016 WIPO General Assembly, the 2017 General Assembly is expected to carry on conversation on a potential industrial design treaty. Some delegations, such as the European Union and the Group of Central European and Baltic States, declared firmly at the opening of this session of the SCT that they were not prepared to reopen discussion on the draft treaty text, as they considered that the remaining issues should be considered in the context of a high-level negotiating meeting (diplomatic conference), on which the 2017 General Assembly should decide.
Image Credits: WIPO