Importance of Geographical Indications
Why are Geographical Indications (GI) Important for preserving traditional craftsmanship and artisanship?
Below you can find a brief explanation of the importance of protection of GIs.
What does Protected Geographical Indication mean?
A geographical indication (GI) is a tag, sign or indication which is defined in Article 22(1) of the TRIPS Agreement, as “indications, which identify a good as originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or a locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristics of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin”.
The Protected GI is the name of a place, region or in exceptional cases, the name of a country, that is known and used to indicate an agricultural product or good, including at least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the defined territory.
What is the use of geographical indication?
It indicates a specific geographical origin and possesses qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin and they are names of geographical locations, used to identify goods and convey with such identification information about the qualities and origin of such product. The definition is limited to the identification of goods, however, it does not specify which type of goods should be protected, nor which kind of sign should be used.
It is thus up to the WTO members to decide nationally which goods should benefit from GI protection and which kind of signs should be used to identify them. Some examples of GIs include “Cognac” (brandy from France), “Ceylon” (tea from Sri Lanka), “Napa Valley” (wine from California) and “Roquefort” (cheese from France).
Why do geographical indications need protection?
GI’s are protected in accordance with the national laws and under a wide range of concepts, such as laws against unfair competition, consumer protection laws, laws for the protection of certification marks or special laws for the protection of geographical indications or appellations of origin. The indication needs protection from commercially misleading usage by organizations that commercially exploit the location, name, and fame that do not have the right to use the specific location where it originates from or is known for.
GI’s have been given the status of intellectual property since the product gets more value commercially by its mere association with a particular place. GIs helps in the identification of a source of a good which in turn is related to the quality of a product or good. Protecting the GI with an organization is one of the best solutions that: protect the genuine producers to avail optimum cost for their premium goods in the competitive international market.
The importance of protection lies in preventing others from using false practices of generating and selling low-quality products that do not conform to the authentic quality. This instrument also helps the final consumers or customers to ascertain they are buying real and premium products. GIs have been given the status of intellectual property since the product gets more value commercially by its mere association with a particular place. GIs helps in the identification of a source of a good which in turn is related to the quality of good or product.
Contact us for more information on how to protect your products or goods by officially protect it as a Geographical Indication.