Research On Extension Of Additional Protection For Geographical Indications Under TRIPS Agreement

Since TRIPS agreement provided protection for geographical indications as an independent intellectual property right,the research on geographical indications problem has been esteemed highly all over the world.There are two geographical indications protection levels in TRIPS agreement,one is the Article 22:Protection of Geographical Indications;the other is the Article 23:Additional Protection for Geographical Indications for Wines and Spirits.Many European countries were so unsatisfied with this difference that they requested to extend the Article 23 to all geographical indications,which received strong objection from the United States and Australia unfortunately.Therefore,a new round of negotiation on geographical indications in WTO was launched.This article starts from introducing the provisions of geographical indications in TRIPS agreement and the negotiation process about extending the Article 23 to all geographical indications through concept analysis and historical analysis.Then,it will analyze the necessity and feasibility of extending the Article 23 to all geographical indications from two aspects.On one hand,whether from the perspective of rights protection or the perspective of TRIPS terms,providing two different levels for protecting geographical indications is lack of rationality.On the other hand,in order to explain the feasibility of extending the Article 23 to all geographical indications,its legal basis for negotiations,as well as its impact on the purpose of TRIPS agreement will be discussed by case studies and economic analysis.The third part of this article will explain that how extending the Article 23 to all geographical indications affects the trademark system and introduce the Germany geographical indications system and the well-known trademark system in TRIPS agreement to solve the above problem.Finally,because our country hadn't showed clear aittitude on the above subject in international negotiations,which is disproportional for our status of the major developing country with abundant geographical indications resource.This article will present our attitude towards the subject,as well as the strategic recommendations to promote the outcome of the negotiations in favor of our country and other developing countries and maximize the geographical indications value in our country.