Negotiators will gather next week to discuss a proposed adjustment to an international registration system providing international protection for names that identify the geographic origin of products such as coffee, tea, fruits, wine, pottery, glass and cloth.
The Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of a New Act of the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration is scheduled to take place at WIPO headquarters in Geneva between May 11 and 21, 2015.
The basic negotiation text for the Diplomatic Conference was developed between 2008 and 2014 by a Lisbon System working group with the goal of attracting a wider membership to the System, while preserving its principles and objectives.
The draft text seeks to further develop the legal framework of the Lisbon System, extending its scope to include geographical indications in addition to appellations of origin, which help promote many globally marketed products such as, for example, Scotch whiskey, Darjeeling tea and Café de Colombia. The text also seeks to create the possibility of accession by certain intergovernmental organizations.
Issues that are considered still pending include fee provisions, scope of protection, protection against becoming generic, safeguards in respect of prior trademark rights, phasing out periods for prior use (if any) and where prior use was not raised as a ground for refusal.
