Our organization works in this area with the objective to collaborate with the conservation and sustainable management of Paraguayan genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as well as the benefit sharing these generate; issues that stand today at the center of debate.
Concept:
“A Geographical Indication identifies a product as originating in a marked territory, or a region where a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the product itself is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and/or the human and natural factors existing within this space.”
(Extracted from Giovanucci, who takes the definition from the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement—TRIPS, Art. 22.1)
Geographical indications (GIs) like Darjeeling Tea, Meat from the Pampas, Basmati Rice, or Parmesan Cheese embody unique expressions of culture, tradition and territory. GIs can be an exceptional opportunity to utilize the market’s power to distinguish and award products and services that incorporate particular traditions, cultural and territorial uniqueness. They also offer opportunities for rural development at a broader territorial level.
A GI can also serve as a distinctive umbrella that facilitates protection and differentiation so that a region’s historical and ecologic characteristics can be valued via tourism, the diffusion of studies and the commercialization of products and services. The protection and distinction of GIs allow for the “product-service-location” dynamic, a dynamic that facilities the diffusion of the product with other cultures; and, at the same time, a dynamic that invites other cultures to travel to the place. Effectively, a GI can represent an exchange method at a human scale that represents globalization at its best, through the respect and recognition of what is intrinsically local.
International Definition: The geographical indication of a country, region or location serves to designate a product originating from there, and its quality or characteristics that are due exclusively or essentially to its geographic environment, including natural and human factors (Lisbon, 1958—1979, 2.1).
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized organ within the United Nations system of organization. Its objective is to develop an international intellectual property system, which is balanced and accessible and awards creativity, stimulates innovation, and contributes to economic development, while protecting public interest.
The WIPO was established in 1967, following the WIPO Convention, and with the member states’ mandate to encourage the protection of intellectual property around the world through cooperation among states and with the collaboration of other international organizations. Its Headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland.
The WIPO administrates various international agreements that deal with, either partially or completely, the protection of geographic indications (particularly the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Register). On another hand, and by means of the work of the Standing Committee on the Law of Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications, integrated by representatives for member states and other interested organizations, the WIPO seeks to find new measures to improve the international protection of geographical indications.
International legal instruments: Paris Convention (1883-1979); Lisbon Agreement (1958-1979)
Referential legal instruments: (EC) 510-06 Regulation from the European Union Council (2006); (EC) 1898-2006 Regulation from the European Communities Commission (2006); Title 15, §§1051-1127, United States Code; Title 27, Chapter 8, §205
