Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the notified geographical indication on the register. The elements of the notifica-
tion will be agreed.
2.
Each WTO Member shall provide that domestic authorities will consult the
Register and take its information into account when making decisions regarding
registration and protection of trademarks and geographical indications in accord-
ance with its domestic procedures. In the framework of these procedures, and in the
absence of proof to the contrary in the course of these, the Register shall be
considered as a
prima facie
evidence that, in that Member, the registered geographi-
cal indication meets the definition of 'geographical indication' laid down in TRIPS
Article 22.1. In the framework of these procedures, domestic authorities shall
consider assertions on the genericness exception laid down in TRIPS Article 24.6
only if these are substantiated.
3.
Text based negotiations shall be intensified, in Special Sessions of the TRIPS
Council and as an integral part of the Single Undertaking, to amend the TRIPS
Agreement in order to establish the Register accordingly.
2.80
To date WTO Members remain divided over the proposal to negotiate the
three subjects in parallel, with opponents arguing that the only mandate for the
TRIPS Council is to negotiate the multilateral register. Under the Chairman-
ship of Ambassador Trevor C. Clarke (Barbados) during 2008-2009, the
Special Session of the TRIPS Council considered the various proposals which
had been made and the Chairman identified as 'crucial' the two issues of
participation and consequences/legal effects of registration.
33
2.81
With respect to the issue of whether participation in the system should be
voluntary or mandatory, some WTO Members interpreted the reference in the
mandate concerning 'a multilateral system' to mean that the system should
apply to all Members. Other Members argued that the words 'those Members
participating in the system' mean that not all Members are expected to
participate. Ambassador Clarke encouraged Members 'to continue searching
for an acceptable solution that would determine a participation of Members in
the Register that renders it a useful and meaningful tool in line with its purpose
to facilitate protection'.
34
With respect to the consequences/legal effects of
registration, all Members seem to accept an obligation to consult the infor-
mation on the Register and to take the information on the Register into account
when making decisions regarding registration and protection of trade marks
and GIs under their national procedures. However, views differ significantly as
to how such information should be taken into account, what weight and
significance should be given to it, and whether there should be a specific legal
obligation to take the information into account.
33
Multilateral System of Notification and Registration of Geographical Indications for Wines and Spirits,
Report by the Chairman, Ambassador C. Trevor Clarke (Barbados), TN/IP/19, 25 November 2009, para 10.
34
Ibid, para 11.
