GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
source on goods”. According to Article II of this agreement: “All goods bearing a false or deceptive indication by which one of the countries to which the agreement applies, or a place situate therein, is directly or indirectly indicated as being the country or place of origin shall be seized on importation into any of the said countries.”
In the event that seizure is not possible under national law, the agreement provides that import prohibition should be applied. Terefore, this agreement seeks to make it obligatory for all goods, including wine, which bear a false or deceptive indication of of
source by which one the contracting states, or a place situated
therein, directly or indirectly is indicated as being the source or place of origin, to be seized on importation or for such importation to be prohibited or sanctions or other actions applied in connection with such importation.
Te primary objective of the Madrid Agreement is to protect consumers from being misled. Terefore the agreement was designed to cover all false indications of source, irrespective of the intention of the user. When the Madrid Agreement was draſted,
this was particularly
important as it was only at the revision of 1958 that Article 10 of
the Paris Convention made
Today, Articles 22 and 23 of the TRIPS Agreement expand the scope for the protection of GIs. A
“THE PROTECTION OF GIs IN THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN IS NECESSARY AS OTHERWISE THERE WOULD BE NO OBLIGATION UNDER THE TRIPS AGREEMENT FOR OTHER COUNTRIES TO EXTEND RECIPROCAL PROTECTION.”
provision for the protection of indications of source without the need to show fraud. In view of this amendment there has been widespread doubt as to whether there is a continuing need for the Madrid Agreement.
GI is defined in the TRIPS Agreement as an indication that identifies goods as originating in the territory of a member or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality reputation or other characteristic of the goods is essentially attributable to its geographic origin. It provides for a minimum level of protection for all products and has a special provision for wines and spirits.
Tere is an obligation to refuse a mark which consists of a GI but it allows for homonyms (co-existence) of marks under certain circumstances and for negotiations and a multilateral system of notification in respect of GIs for wines.
New developments in Sri Lanka
A round table conference was held in Colombo in August 2013 and there was a subsequent meeting of policyholders with the secretary of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Also present were some members of the Commission, the deputy solicitor general,
the deputy legal
draſtsman and members of state agencies such as the Sri Lanka Export Development Board and private sector institutions such as the Spice Council. At
the meeting it was decided in
principle that, with the approval of the advisory commission, consideration should be given to
74
World Intellectual Property Review Annual 2014
www.worldipreview.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172