The Diplomatic Conference
convened to adopt a new Act of the Lisbon Agreement met at the headquarters of
the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on 11 to 21 May 2015 and
reached agreement to adopt
the Geneva Act.
In preparation for the Diplomatic
Conference, the ad hoc Working Group met 10 times from 2009 to 2014 to
discuss and draw up the draft text that has yielded this new Act and the
Regulations under the new Act.
One of the primary objectives of the new Act is to make
the existing Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and their International
Registration, which currently has only 28 Contracting Parties, more attractive
for accession by new members.
Some of the main changes will permit
accession to the Act by intergovernmental organizations and the international
registration of both appellations of origin and geographical indications (up to
now the Agreement provided only for the registration of appellations of origin)
under a system that is of course in conformity with the TRIPS Agreement while
also grounded in many respects in regulations concerning these modalities
adopted by the European Union. The Geneva Act also includes Articles dealing
with the (broad) scope of protection for geographical indications and
appellations of origin in the Contracting Parties and with the subject of
official fees (rather unusual in European Union regulations in this area).
Two intergovernmental organizations evinced
particular interest over the course of the drafting process for the new Act,
namely, the European Union (with the OHIM also present as a separate observer
in its own right) and, to a lesser extent, the African Intellectual Property
Organization (OAPI). As the efforts of the Working Group earned credibility
with the drafting of proposed full wordings for the texts, it sparked the
interest of more and more countries, and the delegations of certain world
powers (the U.S., Russia, China), which initially either did not take part or
were essentially passive participants, became more active, greatly enriching
the deliberations, raising very interesting issues and proposals from a variety
of legal, economic, and cultural perspectives.
Like the current Lisbon Agreement, registration
is not limited to certain goods. Rather, appellations of origin and
geographical indications can be registered for all types of goods (agricultural
and non-agricultural), provided they comply with requirements.
The Geneva Act will enter into force
three months after five Contracting Parties have deposited their instruments of
ratification or accession.
It would be remiss to fail to mention the
important role played by the delegations of organizations accorded observer
status in the Working Group and at the Diplomatic Conference, chief among them
CEIPI, for its rigorous academic contributions, MARQUES, oriGIn, and INTA,
representing the interests of their members and the general interest of the
community at large in achieving a text with the clearest possible wording so as
to avert instances of legal uncertainty.
Author: Miguel Ángel Medina
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