RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/76/Add.4
13August 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3395)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS ONANY SYSTEMS FOR THE REGISTRATION
OFGEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS WHICH THEY OPERATE
Communication from Japan
Addendum
Atitsmeeting of27February 1997, theCouncil forTRIPS agreed toinitiate preliminary work
onissues relevant tothenegotiations specified inArticle 23.4oftheTRIPS Agreement through an
information-gathering activity. Inthisconnection, theCouncil invited Members tosubmit information
onanysystems fortheregistration ofgeographical indications which theyoperate. Reference ismade
toparagraph 73ofdocument IP/C/M/12.
Thepresent document reproduces theinformation received from Japan byacommunication
from itsPermanent Mission, dated 4August 1997.
_______________
DESIGNATION SYSTEM OFGEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS FOR WINES
AND SPIRITS INJAPAN
I. DESIGNATION SYSTEM UNDER THE LAW CONCERNING LIQUOR BUSINESS
ASSOCIATION AND MEASURES FOR SECURING REVENUE FROM LIQUOR TAX
1. Geographical indications comprising amark indicating anorigin ofwines orspirits inJapan,
which hasbeendesignated bytheCommissioner oftheNational TaxAdministration, arenotallowed
tobeusedinrespect ofwines orspirits notoriginating insuchadesignated region under theStandard
forIndicationRelevanttoGeographicalIndication(NotificationNo.4oftheNationalTaxAdministration
of28December 1994) stipulated based onthefollowing LawandCabinet Order.
TheLawconcerning Liquor Business Association andMeasures forSecuring Revenue fromLiquor
Tax(Law No.7of28February 1953 aslastamended byLawNo.96of20June1997)
Article 86sexies
"(1) Finance Minister, where ...herecognizes thenecessity topursue theadequacy
forindications onliquors forthesakeofthesmooth transaction ofliquors andthebenefit
ofconsumers, maylaydown thenecessary standard tobefollowed byliquor
manufacturers orliquor sellers withregard totheindication onmanufacturing process
ofliquors, quality, orother indication items provided forintheCabinet Order.IP/C/W/76/Add.4
Page2
"(2) Finance Minister, when helaysdown thestandard onindications ofliquors
based onthepreceding paragraph, shallnotify thereof without delay. ..."
CabinetOrderImplementingtheLawconcerningLiquorBusinessAssociationandMeasuresforSecuring
Revenue fromLiquor Tax(Cabinet Order No.28of4March 1953aslastamended byCabinet Order
No.100of30March 1994)
Article 8quater
"Items provided forintheCabinet Order under Article 86sexies paragraph 1ofthe
Lawarethefollowing:
(i) process formaking liquors, quality, andother items inrelated kinds ..."
Standard forindication relevant togeographic indication
"1. (Definition)
Theterms asusedinthefollowing subparagraphs shallhavethemeanings as
determined ineachsubparagraph.
(1) "Geographic Indication" forliquors asstipulated inthefollowing
subparagraph (2)or(3)means theindication specifying thataliquor 'splace oforigin
istheterritory orarea/district oftheterritory ofaMember country oftheWorld Trade
Organization (hereinafter called WTO) inthecasethattheestablished quality, general
reputation,andothercharacteristicsoftheliquoraremainlyattributabletoitsgeographic
origin.
(2) "Wines"meanliquors,amongfruitwinesasstipulatedinArticle3,paragraph8
ofLiquor TaxLaw[1953, LawNo.6],thatusegrapes asrawmaterial.
(3) "Distilled liquors" mean shochu, whisky, brandy, andspirits excluding the
liquor provided forinparagraph 5inArticle 3which exceeds thealcohol strength of
45%asstipulated inArticle 3,paragraphs 5,9and10ofLiquor TaxLaw.
(4) "Use" means thefollowing actions byliquor manufacturers orliquor sellers:
(i) Actions ofattaching geographic indications onthecontainers or
packages ofliquors.
(ii) Actions ofassignment, delivery, exhibition forassignment ordelivery,
orimporting ofliquors whose containers orpackages havegeographic
indications.
(iii) Actions ofexhibition ordelivery ofadvertisements, quotation lists,
ortrading documents forliquors thathavegeographic indications.
"2. (Protection ofgeographic indications)
Geographic indications (a)indicating places oforigin thathavebeendesignated
bytheCommissioner oftheNational TaxAdministration among places oforigin for
wines ordistilled liquors thataremade inJapan; orgeographic indications (b)thatIP/C/W/76/Add.4
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areprohibited fromuseinaMember country oftheWTO forwines anddistilled liquors
made inareas other thantheplaces oforigin forwines anddistilled liquors made in
theMember country oftheWTO, shallnotbeusedforwines andliquors whose places
oforigin areother thansuchplaces oforigin.
"The above stipulations shallapply toanycases where thetrueorigin ofthe
goods isindicated, orwhere geographic indication isusedintranslation oraccompanied
byexpressions as"kind", "type", "style", "imitation" orthelike.
"3. (Exceptions)
Thestipulations ofthepreceding paragraph shallnotapply tothefollowing
subparagraphs.
(1) Inacasewhere certain geographic indications thatwerespecified for
wines ordistilled liquors inaMember country oftheWTO havebeen
usedfortenyearsandoverasof15April1994orbefore15April1994
onabonafidebasis intheterritory oftheMember country.
(2) Inacaseofgeographic indications thatarenotprotected inthecountry
oforigin, orterminated toprotect inthecountry oforigin, or
geographic indications thatceased tobeusedinthecountry oforigin."
2. Currently thefollowing threegeographical indications havebeendesignated under thissystem:
IKI,KUMA, RYUKYU
II. DESIGNATION SYSTEM UNDER THE TRADEMARK LAW
1. Trademark registration shallnotbegranted inthecasewhere atrademark, comprising amark
indicating anorigin ofwines orspirits inJapan which hasbeendesignated bytheCommissioner of
thePatent Office, isusedinrespect ofwines orspirits notoriginating insuchadesignated region,
based onthefollowing LawandRegulation.
TheTrademark Law(LawNo.127of13April 1959, aslastamended byLawNo.68of12June1996)
Article 4
"(1) ...trademark registration shallnotbegranted inthecaseofthefollowing
trademarks:
...
(xvii) trademarks comprising amark indicating anorigin ofwines orspirits inJapan
which hasbeendesignated bytheCommissioner ofthePatent Office ...,which are
usedinrespect towines orspirits notoriginating intheregion inJapan ...."IP/C/W/76/Add.4
Page4
Regulation under theTrademark Law(Ordinance No.13oftheMinistry ofInternational Trade and
Industry of8March 1960, aslastamended byOrdinance No.79of25December 1996)
Article 1
"(1) Anyperson producing wines orspirits inthecourse oftrade (including
cooperatives ofwhich theyareamember; referred tohenceforth as"wine orspirit
producer"), andwhoisseeking adesignation foranareaofproduction under
Article 4(1)(xvii) oftheTrademark Lawshallsubmit anapplication made inaccordance
withForm 1totheCommissioner ofthePatent Office.
"(2) Inthecasethatthewineorspirit producer isacorporation, theyshallsubmit
thecorporation 'sarticles ofassociation orequivalent."
Article 1bis
"The Commissioner ofthePatent Office shall, upon receipt ofanapplication
made according toparagraph 1oftheprevious article, conduct anexamination ofthe
areaofproduction, geographical indication, quality andreputation oftherelevant wine
orspirit, andanyother matters deemed necessary."
Article 1ter
"(1) InthecasethattheCommissioner ofthePatent Office makes adesignation
according totheprovision ofArticle 4(1)(xvii) oftheTrademark Law, heshallinform
thewineorspirit producer concerned andpublish theinformation intheTrademark
Gazette.
"(2) InthecasethattheCommissioner ofthePatent Office does notmake a
designation inaccordance withtheprovision ofArticle 4(1)(xvii) oftheTrademark
Law, heshallnotify thewineorspirit producer ofthedecision andthereason forit."
Form 1(reference Article 1)
"Application fordesignation ofplace oforigin forawineorspirit
Dateofapplication
TotheCommissioner, Patent Office
1. Area ofproduction ofwineorspirit
2. Variety ofwineorspirit
3. Geographical indication
4. Applicant
Address (Residence)
Name (seal)IP/C/W/76/Add.4
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5. Listofattached documents
(1) Articles ofincorporation orequivalent 1copy
(2) Document detailing quality ofthewineorspirit 1copy
(3) Document showing thefactthatageographical
indication forthewineorspirit isinuse 1copy
(4) (other document, ifany _copy(copies))"
2. Currently thefollowing three geographical indications havebeenfiledanddesignated under
thissystem:
IKI,KUMA, RYUKYU