Intellectual property

This chapter explains the provisions of Section 3 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement entitled ‘Geographical Indications’. A geographical indication (GI) is defined in the TRIPS Agreement as an indication which identifies a good as originating in the territory of a member or a regional locality in that territory where a given quality reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. Typical examples would be ‘Cognac’ for a brandy coming from that region of France and ‘Darjeeling’ for tea coming from that region of India.

I would like to thank you very much for inviting me to this Symposium. It is really great to be back in Geneva. I have indeed very fond memories of my long stay here and coming back gives me the great pleasure to meet dear old friends.

D’après une étude publiée par le Parlement européen en 2017 la chaîne de blocs pourrait « changer nos vies » (Boucher 2017). Ce que montrent les différentes applications de la chaîne de blocs qui sont mises au point dans des domaines aussi divers que le financement du commerce la facilitation des échanges le commerce des services la propriété intellectuelle et les marchés publics c’est que la chaîne de blocs peut avoir un impact considérable sur les opérateurs commerciaux et sur les organismes gouvernementaux participant au commerce international. Les possibilités sont multiples mais elles ne seront réalisées que si plusieurs défis clés sont relevés.

The negotiations on IP during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations of the GATT (1986–94) were able to build upon a large body of existing law both international and domestic. The main disciplines and notions of IP protection were already well established at the inception of the negotiations in 1986 with the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration in Punta del Este and its compromise that meant that negotiations would be conducted only on so-called trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights. The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 1883 and the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886 – both amounting to the very first multilateral agreements in the field of international economic law long before the advent of the GATT in 1947 – provided the underpinnings in international law.

This chapter deals with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement that set out standards for protection of industrial designs (Articles 25 and 26 in Section 4 of Part II of the Agreement) and protection of layout-designs or topographies of integrated circuits (Articles 35 to 38 in Section 6 of Part II). As for all sections of Part II these sections have to be read together with the relevant provisions of pre-existing treaties in the area of international IP law which are incorporated by reference into the TRIPS Agreement. Reference will be made to these treaties in the sections below. This chapter will also have to be read in conjunction with other relevant provisions of the TRIPS Agreement that are explained in other chapters (such as those concerning non-discrimination enforcement of IP rights and the administration of IP). Wherever appropriate cross-references are made to other chapters.

My sincere thanks go to my colleague Ms Kenza Le Mentec for her precious guidance. Kenza introduced me to the subject and provided invaluable inputs in particular for the technical sections describing the technology and the section on trade facilitation. This publication would not have been possible without her support.