Legal Protection Of Geographical Indications

Geographic indication is an important commercial symbol. Different from trademark, it is an indicative mark, which refers to not only the geographic area where the goods come from, but also the given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good attributed to their geographical origin. It is important in cultural continuity and emotion concentrating, as well as whose economic value, therefore, which is highly valued by the by the most countries of the world. China has a large quantity of resources of geographic indication. It is meaningful to protect, develop, and make good use of them , however ,because of some issues, historical or current, the current situation of geographic is not optimistic, the biggest problem is the construction of the Chinese characteristic legal institutions system nowadays, which is concerned mostly by this paper.This article, benefitting form the'investigation of the using and protection of geographic indication 2009', discusses the concept,system and practice, and makes a comparative analysis between the domestic system and international system, then analyses the problem and reason of ours, finally gives the legislation proposal. The main txt of my article is divided into 3 parts as follows:Part 1, firstly gives a brief introduction to history of the concept and protection, then based on the TRIPS, analyzes the related legal terms, such as trademark, Indications as to their Source, finally presents the international legislation of Geographic indication.Part 2, focuses on the current problems and reasons in China. It begins with the introduction of the current system, institutional and executive, then presents the practical situation, and analyzes the reason.Part 3, concerns the legislation proposal. It show the significance of the protection of Geographic indication first, then stresses some items which should be paid more attention, finally, brings forward the legislation advices.