The Geographical Indication Rules In The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic And Trade Agreement And Its Enlightenment To China

After 7 years and 13 rounds of negotiations,the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement was finally signed on October 30,2016,and came into effect on September 21,2017.As an almost "milestone" bilateral trade agreement between developed economies with opposing protection models for the protection of geographical indications in the world,the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement has distinctive characteristics.It covers the answers to many hotly debated questions in the international community regarding the protection of geographical indications.The agreement provides answers to three key questions about the protection of geographical indications: whether to expand the scope of high-level protection;how to deal with the relationship between geographical indications and trademarks;and how to treat the relationship between common names and geographical indications.It has created a balance and rules between the special law protection model and the trademark law protection model.Its entry into force will have a tremendous impact on the European Union,Canada,the protection pattern of world geographical indications and China.In addition,the latest developments related to the geographical indication provisions of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement include the signing of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.The agreement on geographical indications is opposed to the relevant provisions of the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.This has an enlightening role for China,which concluded negotiations on the geographical indication protection and cooperation agreement with the EU at the end of 2019 and early 2020,and signed an economic and trade agreement with the United States.In the wave of geographical indication protection that has shifted from multilateral agreements to free trade agreements,China should switch to a new strategic vision and plan its overall layout from a higher foothold.China should refine the relationship between geographical indications,trademarks and common names in the process of foreign trade negotiations,make more specific provisions on the geographical indication opposition procedures,withdrawal system and infringement relief system,and form characteristics with Chinese characteristics list of geographical indication protection.