Research On Geographical Indication Protection Under FTA Framework And China's Choice

Geographical indications(hereinafter referred to as “GIs”)have experienced a tortuous and complete historical evolution from the very beginning.In general,the legal protection of GIs has gone through a process of transition from domestic law to international agreements and then to free trade agreements(hereinafter referred to as“FTA”).The international protection of GIs has gone through decades of exploration from the Paris Convention,the Madrid Agreement to the Lisbon Agreement.It was not until the entry into force of the TRIPS Agreement in 1995 that GIs were officially protected as an intellectual property right.The TRIPS Agreement constitutes an important milestone in the international protection of GIs and temporarily reconciles the divergence of GIs among every member including the US and the Europe,sets a set of minimum standards that all members must abide by,and is of epoch-making significance.Since the entry into force of the TRIPS Agreement,the international community has still been debating over the unsettled issues of GIs in the TRIPS Agreement.GIs,with an attribute of intellectual property,is one of the seven types of intellectual property established in the TRIPS Agreement.GIs are inextricably linked with international trade,thus its importance is self-evident.With the progress of multilateral trade negotiations on the issue of GIs under the WTO framework now in a deadlock,more and more members are turning to the FTA negotiations.Among them,the United States and the EU are the most active countries or regions in this field.The EU and the United States are very important research subjects in researching the protection of GIs.The EU's FTA rules of GIs profoundly reflect its elevation of protection level of GIs,with specific measures such as the automatic protection of GIs included in the lists and the cutdown of exceptions of the protection of GIs.However,the FTA rules of the United States reflect its tendency to keep the protection of GIs in FTA toward the principle of trademark protection.The structural layout of this dissertation is expected to via introduction,comment and suggestion path and eventually put forward my own suggestions on China's strategy and position in participating in the formulation of the rules of GIs in FTA.As far as our country is concerned,as a developing country,China has rich resources of GIs.However,there are many deficiencies in the protection of GIs,whether international or domestic,and we need to constantly explore and improve.As for thefuture FTA negotiations,our country needs to find its own position and interests.We should consider the issue of GIs in the overall situation of international trade and actively participate in the formulation of relevant international rules.Future negotiation shall be based on the position of the other party and its tendencies to make rational use of the exchange of benefits and the compromise of interests so as to perfect the domestic rules system of GIs and safeguard our own vital interests.