RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IP/C/W/76/Add.7
18September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3723)
Original: English Council forTrade-Related Aspects
ofIntellectual Property Rights
INFORMATION FROM MEMBERS ONANY SYSTEMS FOR THE REGISTRATION
OFGEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS WHICH THEY OPERATE
Communication from theCzech Republic
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 theCzech Republic bya
communication from itsPermanent Mission, dated 15September 1997.
_______________
Theprotection ofappellations oforigin ofproducts ("protection ofappellations oforigin")
intheCzech Republic (CR) hasbeenenacted inaspecial lawandimplementing regulation: theLaw
ontheProtection ofAppellations ofOrigin ofProducts (No.159/1973 Coll.) ("Law") andtheOrder
oftheOfficeofInventionsandDiscoveriesonProceduresConcerningAppellationsofOriginofProducts
(No.160/1973Coll.)("Order").AfulltextofbothlegalruleswasnotifiedbytheCRunderArticle63.2
oftheTRIPS Agreement andcirculated inWTO document IP/N/1/CZE/G/1 on29April 1996.
TheCzech Republic isaMember ofseveral international agreements andtreaties, multilateral
andbilateral, aimed attheprotection ofappellations oforigin, namely:
- Paris Convention fortheProtection ofIndustrial Property;
- Madrid Agreement fortheRepression ofFalse orDeceptive Indications ofSource on
Goods;
- Lisbon Agreement fortheProtection ofAppellations ofOrigin andtheirInternational
Registration;
- AgreementbetweenAustriaandtheCRonIndicationsofSourceofGoods,Appellations
ofOrigin ofProducts andanother Marking Concerning theOrigin ofAgricultural and
Industrial Products;IP/C/W/76/Add.7
Page2
- Agreement between Portugal andtheCRonIndications ofSource onGoods,
Appellations ofOrigin ofProducts andGeographical Denominations;
- Agreement between Switzerland andCRonIndications ofSource onGoods,
Appellations ofOrigin ofProducts andother Geographical Denominations.
_______________
TheLawlaysdown particularly basic terms andconcepts withrespect totheprotection of
appellations oforigin, defines thescope oftheprotection, andsetsupregistration procedures for
applications aswell.
Under theLaw(Section 1),thetermappellations oforigin ofproducts means "thegeographical
name ofacountry, region orlocality which hasbecome generally known todesignate aproduct
originating therein thequality andcharacteristics ofwhich aredueexclusively oressentially tothe
geographical environment, including natural andhuman factors".
Agricultural, natural, handicraft andindustrial products areconsidered tobeproducts forthe
purpose ofthisLaw.
Inorder tobeprotected, appellations oforigin (designation) mustberegistered intheRegister
ofappellations oforigin ofproducts ("register") keptbytheIndustrial Property Office ("IPO"). Any
person mayconsult theregister andrequest official extracts therefrom.
Theapplication forregistration takesasimilar course asinthecaseoftrademarks registration.
Thecareful delineation ofthegeographical location iscrucial forthedecision ontheregistration, in
particular ifinternational protection isconsidered. Anappellation oforigin constitutes (bythedate
ofregistration) anabsolute private right(ofacollective nature) which belongs toallpersons whose
products fulfil conditions forawarding theappellation. Itisprohibited tousetheappellation even
iftheappellation isaccompanied byterms suchas"kind", "type", "make", "imitation", etc.Theright
tousearegistered appellation oforigin maynotbelicensed.
Theapplication forregistration maybesubmitted bylegalornatural persons. Foreign persons
enjoy,subjecttoreciprocity,thesametreatmentastheCzechnationals.TheIPOregisterstheappellation
oforigin anditsright holder provided thatrespective products areregistrable, i.e.products tobe
protected bysuchappellations oforigin meet acertain number ofconditions setoutintheLaw
(particularly inSection 1,seeabove).
Theimplementing rulesoftheOrder setouttheconditions under which anatural orlegalperson
isentitled tofileanapplication. Theapplication must contain thefollowing elements:
(a) thename andtheresidence (seat) ofanapplicant;
(b) identification ofthe(legal) representative ofanapplicant, ifany;
(c) identification ofaproducer inthelocality which geographical name constitutes the
appellation oforigin;
(d) thedesignation ofappellation oforigin;
(e) thecountry, region orlocality from which theproduct originates;IP/C/W/76/Add.7
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(f) thedesignation ofproducts tobeprotected;
(g) quality andcharacteristics ofproducts under registration.
Theapplication mustbealsoaccompanied byadocument evidencing thename ofanapplicant
andthescope ofhisbusiness andastatement fromthecompetent localauthorities withrespect tothe
products andtheappellations oforigin thereof. Acertificate oftheregistration ofanappellation of
origin isissued toanapplicant andtheregistration ispublished intheIPOBulletin. Theprotection
isofunlimited duration.
Anyperson whose products fulfil conditions andrequirements laiddown foranappellation
oforigin already registered mayapply totheIPOforregistration asanother rightholder tousethe
appellation oforigin. Procedures forapplications aregoverned bythesame rules asthose forthe
"original" application forregistration oftheappellation oforigin. Theprotection ofanother rightholder
tousetheappellation oforigin under thelawisconstituted by,andresulted from, theregistration.
TheIPOisentitled tocancel theregistration ofanappellation oforigin ifitisfound that:
- theappellation oforigin wasregistered though theconditions required bytheLaw
(Section I)hadnotbeenfulfilled;
- conditions setoutfortheregistration haveceased toexist;
- registered rightholders haveresigned inwriting theappellation oforigin.
Thedecision oftheIPOissubject toappeal (review).
International registration iseither performed through individual national registration procedures
withrespective foreign authorities, orasregards Member States oftheLisbon Agreement under the
procedural rules setouttherein. TheLisbon Agreement grants thenationals ofMember States the
possibility ofprotection inallMember States onthebasis ofoneapplication filedbytheIPOwith
WIPO. WIPO registers theappellation oforigin asofthedateoftheapplication receipt inthe
International Register ofAppellations ofOrigin andsends thecertificate ofregistration totheIndustrial
Property Office. Atthesametimetheapplication issenttotheOffices inallMember countries, entitled
tooppose theregistration inoneyearterm. Theregistration intheInternational Register ispermanent
andthere isnonecessity torenew it.
Bilateral agreements concluded withAustria, Switzerland andPortugal established listsof
respectiveappellations(designationsandgeographicaldenominations)tobeprotectedbetweencontracting
parties andalsospecified whatkindofprotection istobegranted.