Let’s Have An Other Look At The Lisbon Agreement

Matthijs GeuzeWIPO

What’s New?

• Membership• Registration Activity• Content of Registrations

26 Member States

Africa (6): Algeria, Burkina Faso, Congo, Gabon, Togo, Tunisia

America (6): Costa Rica, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru

Asia (4): Georgia, Iran (Islamic Rep), Israel, Korea (DPR)

Europe (10): Bulgaria, Czech Rep., France, Hungary, Italy, Moldova,

Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia

since 2004

Six New Members: Georgia, Iran (Islamic Rep), Korea (DPR), Montenegro,

Nicaragua, Peru

Recordings: 2004 – 16 2005 – 30 2006 – 53 2007 (Jan-May) – 23

Content of Registrations

• Possibility of Coexistence• Partial Refusals

Content of Registrations

• Partial Refusals• Translations

Content of Registrations

• Partial Refusals• Dissimilar Products?• Prior Users?

Protection of an Appellation

• Country of Origin• Other Countries of the Lisbon Union

Substantive Requirements

Protection in the country of origin

• Recognition• “Appellation of origin” as defined in Lisbon• “Country of origin” as defined in Lisbon• Demarcation of the area of production

AO

R

QC

D

GE

P

Legal Effect(1)

• Effect of international registration

– extension of protection to countries other than the country of origin

– indefinite (as long as the appellation is protected in the country of origin)

• Except in a country that ...

– issued a refusal (within the prescribed time-limit), or– invalidated the effect of the international registration

in its territory

Legal Effect(2)

Required level of protection

– protection against any usurpation or imitation– reputation– AO cannot be “deemed” to have become generic

Looking Back and Ahead

• Records of the Lisbon Diplomatic Conference (1958)

• Updating the Lisbon Regulations

THANK YOU

Matthijs GeuzeWIPO