地理标志保在美国.pptVIP

* * Therefore, a geographic term is merely a place name and not intellectual property until it is used to identify a good or service with certain characteristics (including origin) rather than merely the place where the goods or services originate, and consumers use that sign as material information when making purchasing decisions. * Foreign GI owners and foreign governments are interested in leveraging geographical indications into social and economic development tools for their small farmers and producers. That makes sense since that is what IP is meant to do. However, it is one thing to own a GI in your own country, or have your government establish it on your behalf - but quite another thing to gain exclusive rights to your GIs in your export markets or even your future export markets. And in this era of global trade, the developing world is looking for market access into lucrative export markets. And what they find in many cases is that someone else got their first with their name and is blocking their geographically labeled products. * * * Geographical indications – that is, source identifying geographic marks – can be registered at the USPTO as trademarks, certification marks, and collective marks. I would like to focus on certification marks in particular because the certification mark structure most closely fits that which the international community appears to focus in their own national regimes: 1) immediate registrability without 2f evidence, (particularly useful for foreign GI holders that don’t have 5 years use in the United States) 2) anti-discrimination rules (that allow all producers in a region that meet the standards to use it) 3) transparent certification standards in the record for producers and interested third parties to see. * * * * * * * * Protection of Geographical Indications: The U.S. Approach地理标志保护在美国 Conrad W. Wong 王伟柏 Intellectual Property Rights Officer 知识产权官员 United States Consulate General, Guangzhou United State