Editing Geographical indication (section)

===Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights===

The [[World Trade Organization|WTO]] [[Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights]] ("TRIPS") defines "geographical indications" as indications that identify a good as "originating in the territory of a Member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographic origin."<ref name="wto.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips_04b_e.htm|title=WTO - intellectual property (TRIPS) - agreement text - standards|website=www.wto.org}}</ref>

In 1994, when negotiations on the [[World Trade Organization|WTO]] [[Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights|TRIPS]] were concluded, governments of all WTO member countries (164 countries, as of  August 2016) had agreed to set certain basic standards for the protection of GIs in all member countries. There are, in effect, two basic obligations on WTO member governments relating to GIs in the TRIPS agreement:

# '''Article 22 of the TRIPS Agreement''' says that all governments must provide legal opportunities in their own laws for the owner of a GI registered in that country to prevent the use of marks that mislead the public as to the geographical origin of the good. This includes prevention of use of a geographical name which although literally true "falsely represents" that the product comes from somewhere else.<ref name="wto.org"/>
# '''Article 23 of the TRIPS Agreement''' says that all governments must provide the owners of GI the right, under their laws, to prevent the use of a geographical indication identifying wines not originating in the place indicated by the geographical indication. This applies ''even where the public is not being misled'', where there is no unfair competition and where the true origin of the good is indicated or the geographical indication is accompanied by expressions such as "kind", "type", "style", "imitation" or the like. Similar protection must be given to geographical indications identifying spirits.<ref name="wto.org"/>

Article 22 of TRIPS also says that governments may refuse to register a trademark or may invalidate an existing trademark (if their legislation permits or at the request of another government) if it misleads the public as to the true origin of a good. Article 23 says governments may refuse to register or may invalidate a trademark that conflicts with a wine or spirits GI whether the trademark misleads or not.

'''Article 24 of TRIPS''' provides a number of exceptions to the protection of geographical indications that are particularly relevant for geographical indications for wines and spirits (Article 23). For example, Members are not obliged to bring a geographical indication under protection where it has become a generic term for describing the product in question. Measures to implement these provisions should not prejudice prior trademark rights that have been acquired in good faith; and, under certain circumstances &mdash; including long-established use &mdash; continued use of a geographical indication for wines or spirits may be allowed on a scale and nature as before.<ref name="wto.org"/>