General

This chapter explains the provisions of Section 3 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement entitled ‘Geographical Indications'. A geographical indication (GI) is defined in the TRIPS Agreement as an indication which identifies a good as originating in the territory of a Member, or a regional locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. Typical examples would be ‘Cognac’ for a brandy coming from that region of France and ‘Darjeeling’ for tea coming from that region of India.

Like other sections in Part II of the TRIPS Agreement that cover standards of IPRs, Section 3 has to be read together with the relevant provisions of the pre-existing treaties in the area of international intellectual property law which are incorporated by reference into the TRIPS Agreement. In the case of GIs, the relevant treaty is the Paris Convention. Explanations of the provisions of the Paris Convention relevant to GIs are integrated along with explanations of the TRIPS provisions in this chapter.

This chapter also has to be read with other relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement that are explained in other chapters, notably those on basic principles, on trademarks, on procedures for the acquisition and maintenance of rights (Article 62) and on enforcement. For example, in respect of GIs, Members have to respect the requirements of national and MFN treatment, in the same way as for other categories of IPRs. A WTO Panel has confirmed that those obligations apply in respect of the availability of GI protection, including application and opposition procedures (see Chapter III).