EU Conference on Geographical Indications and the Lisbon Agreement (Geneva Act) and Study Visits on Geographical Indications
IP Key South-East Asia has supported the participation of high-level intellectual property (IP) officials in charge of Geographical Indications (GIs) in the 2019 edition of the Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications and in the GI Study Visit held on 02-04 and 05-06 July, respectively.
The Worldwide Symposium was organized jointly by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) with the support of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The IP Key South-East Asia GI Study Visit was conducted in collaboration with INPI and the IP Key Latin America Project.
The Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications was attended by about 250 participants from approx. 60 countries. National IP authorities responsible for GIs, GI professionals, and GI producers had the opportunity to exchange perspectives and best practices in the area of GIs, and were provided with fresh insights on GI protection and information on recent developments in the field, including the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on the Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications (Lisbon Agreement).
The EUIPO Executive Director, Mr Christian Archambeau pointed out during his speech at this World Symposium that when it comes to world trade, GIs play a very important role in trade negotiations and the EUIPO is already working on GIs in a number of global regions, implementing EU-funded IP projects in China, Southeas Asia and Latin America.
After the Worldwide Symposium, the Southeast Asian IP officials visited GI producers the Lisbon and Porto areas, which allowed them to gain a more practical understanding of the benefits of GI protection.
The producers of Vinho do Porto and Arroz Carolino of Ribatejo fields, GIs protected in the EU, shared their production processes, control mechanisms to ensure the quality of their products, branding and marketing strategies, and the benefits of GI protection to their respective communities. Vinho do Porto is a wine produced from grapes grown in the Duoro region while the Arroz Carolino is a medium grain rice of high quality, consumed domestically, and also exported to Switzerland, Poland, and Belgium.
Officials from the IP offices of Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam participated in the Worldwide Symposium and IP Key SEA GI Study Visit along with EUIPO/IP Key and European Commission representatives.
- 20 Pictures of the activities [ZIP - 4.8MB]
- 9 Pictures of the South-East Asia activities [ZIP - 2MB]