On The Legal Pattern Of Geographical Indications Protection In China

The term Geographical Indications has been formed in over 100 years. From The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883, The Madrid Agreement for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods of 1891 and The Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration, to Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, the concept of geographical indications have experienced significant evolution. TRIPs Agreement is the first international agreement which officially presentation the term Geographical Indications. In this agreement, Geographical indications are treated as an independent intellectual property right such as trade mark, patent, copyright etc. The TRIPs Agreement requires WTO members to provide legal means to protect Geographical Indications, but leave the pattern of legal protection to each member .Due to the differences of historic, economic and culture among member countries, there are significant difference in the legal patterns .there are mainly two legal patterns which have great effect in the world, one is trademark pattern which is lead by the United States, the other is specialized legal pattern lead by French.As a country which has a long history and varied climate and topography, China has abundant resources of Geographic Indications. However, due to the late start of the legal protection and lack of both recognition of the importance of Geographical Indications and legislative experience, the protection of Geographical Indications is not satisfactory. At present, the trademark system coexist with the specialized legal system in the protection of geographical indications in China, each system has its defect, the state of coexisting also bring about a certain amount of confusion and conflict .China has entranced into WTO and to protect geographical indications is her international obligations. In the era of economic globalization and the knowledge-based economy, it is particularly important to strengthening the protection of geographical indications in China for the fully exploitation of its geographical indications resources and for the development of economy as well as the protection of national band .The urgently problem at present is to choose a suitable legal pattern in order to strengthen the protection of geographical indications in China.Based on the recognition of the necessity of China to strengthen the protection of geographical indications and the problems aroused from the existing legal pattern ,the author begins from the concept and the nature of geographical indications , aims at the suited legal pattern for China to protect her geographical indications .Through investigate ,empirical analysis and comparative studies ,the author mainly focused on the situation of national geographical indications ,the existing legal pattern of geographical indications of China , the useful experience from international protection practice and the best choice for China to protect her geographical indications . Based on the above studies, the author come to the conclusion: the specialized legal pattern is the most suited pattern for China. Furthermore, the author provide some advice in the new legal system .Through this paper, the author wants to provide some useful theoretical consultation to the legal pattern of geographical indications protection in China.