The Symposium provides a forum for exchanging ideas and perspectives on issues relating to the use and protection of geographical indications. It also offers technical insights and information on recent developments in the field.
Virtual Exhibition on Geographical Indications (archived)
The online exhibition, was held from September 6, 2021 to July 31, 2022, and offered visitors the option to discover products from around the world – 39 member states and two intergovernmental organizations - whose quality and reputation are due to their geographic origin.
The live discussions will address the various legal, technical, commercialization and political issues relating to geographical indications, as well as offering an informal platform to discuss those issues. The discussions will cover:
Selected International Developments
The Socio-economic Impact of Geographical Indications
Commercialization Strategies for Geographical Indications
Geographical Indications and Trade
Geographical Indications and Sustainability
Challenges for Geographical Indications and the Internet Domain Name System
The virtual Symposium is combined with a virtual exhibition on geographical indications, accessible on September 6, 2021 for a period of 6 months. The exhibition will provide an introduction to geographical indications (policy objectives, legal protection, trade aspects, consumer protection aspects, branding) and will illustrate how they work through examples relating to different types of products from Member States around the world.
The approach to the legal protection of geographical indications varies depending on the national, regional or international context in which they are developed and used. There is continuing development of proactive regulation and protection schemes for geographical indications. This panel will review some of those developments in selected jurisdictions and at the multilateral level.
Moderator and panelists
Moderator: Francis Fay Head, Unit Geographical Indications, Directorate General Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission, Brussels
Speaker: Alexandra Grazioli Director, Lisbon Registry, Department for Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications, Brands and Designs Sector, WIPO
Suelen Carls Visiting Professor, University of Marília (Unimar), Marília, Brazil
Li Yue Expert, Intellectual Property Protection Department, China National Intellectual Property Administration(CNIPA), Beijing
13.40 - 13.50 Break
13.50 - 15.00 The Socio-economic Impact of Geographical Indications
Geographical indications are policy tools that can be used to achieve various objectives – economic, social and cultural. The panel will offer an opportunity to discuss the impact of GI policies on producers, communities and consumers and review one of the most complete economic studies published to date on the economic value of geographical indications.
Moderator and panelists
Moderator:Intan Hamdan-Livramento Economic Officer, Innovation Economy Section, Department for Economics and Data Analytics, IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector, WIPO
Speaker: Tanguy Chever Consultant, AND International, Paris
Alexander Parra Peña Attorney, Artesanías de Colombia, Bogotá
Hazel Moir Adjunct Associate Professor, Centre for European Studies (CES), Australian National University (ANU), Canberra
Reto Meili Project Coordinator, International Cooperation Division, Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI), Bern
Day two: Tuesday, September 7, 2021
11.40 Online connection to the Symposium
12.00 - 13.15 Commercialization Strategies for Geographical Indications
Geographical indication protection is often adopted for certain products out of a perceived need to organize producers and to improve and enforce the quality of the products marketed under a geographical indication. But commercial success does not come automatically with the adoption of a protection scheme. How does branding of geographical indication products have to look like in order to attract commercial success?
Moderator and panelists
Moderator: Pilar Montero Commercial Law Professor, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain
Speaker: Paola Andrea Romero Torres Member of the Geographical Indications Committee, International Trademark Association (INTA), Bogotá
Khalid Rahel Head, Research and Development Quality Division, Ministry of Tourism, Handicrafts, Air Transport and Social Economy, Rabat
13.15 - 13.30 Break
13.30 - 15.00 Geographical Indications and Trade
Products bearing geographical indications are often traded across borders. As for all intangible goods, this comes along with a number of challenges for producers, traders and consumers alike. Special provisions for trade in geographical indications products have featured for a long time in international bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements and not at least in the WTO TRIPS Agreement. This panel will offer an outlook on most recent developments in this area, including an opportunity for presenting arguments against the use of geographical names as geographical indications in markets where there is an ex ante use of such indications as generic product descriptions.
Moderator and panelists
Moderator: Tony Taubman Director, Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition Division, World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva
Speaker: Irene Calboli Academic Fellow and Visiting Professor, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore
Maximiliano Santa Cruz Director, Santa Cruz IP, Santiago de Chile
Shawna Morris Senior Director, Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN), Arlington, Virginia, United States of America
Day three: Wednesday, September 8, 2021
11.40 Online connection to the Symposium
12.00 - 13.15 Geographical Indications and Sustainability
As already discussed by a previous Panel, geographical indications can support a variety of policy objectives. Against the background of recent developments, such as global warming and climate change, the question of sustainable production of all types of products gains increasingly prominence. This Panel will review some concrete cases.
Moderator and panelists
Moderator: Massimo Vittori Managing Director, Organization for an International Geographical Indications Network (oriGIn), Geneva
Speaker: Pape-Tahirou Kanouté Agricultural Economist, ETDS (Économie Territoires et Développement Services), Ziguinchor, Senegal
Dirk Troskie Director, Business Planning and Strategy, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, Elsenburg, South Africa
Miranda Risang Ayu Palar Head, Intellectual Property Center on Regulation and Application Studies, Faculty of Law, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia
13.15 -13.30 Break
13.30 - 14.45 Challenges for Geographical Indications and the Internet Domain Name System
Ever since the explosion of the use of the Internet, the number of registered domain names is on the up. In 2019, the company Verisign estimated the existence of a total of 460 million registered domain names. The registration of domain names is not always free of conflict and domain name registration policies protect proprietary or personality interests in all sorts of names. Most prominently, the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) of the Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) offers a protection mechanism against bad faith registrations of trademarks as domain names. However, the UDRP is not applicable to sui generis geographical indications, a fact that has given rise to abundant discussion. The Panel will review the current state of affairs.
Moderator and panelists
Moderator: Heather Forrest Senior Researcher (Adjunct), University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia
Speaker: John D. Rodriguez Attorney-Advisor (Trademarks), Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA), United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Alexandria, Virginia, United States of America
Delia Belciu Chair, Data Committee, European Communities Trademark Association (ECTA), Brussels
Manal Ismail Chair, Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Cairo
14.45 – 15.00 Closing remarks
Wang Binying Deputy Director General, Brands and Designs Sector, WIPO
