The US Free Trade Agreement, Geographical Indications and trade marks

摘要

What do Parmesan and Great Western have in common? You might think at the outset that this is merely the description of part of a good meal. However, the truth is these are two examples of very valuable names that exemplify an intense international battle between governments. In order to understand this issue, we first need to briefly revisit some history We all know that Barossa Valley, Coonawarra, Bordeaux and Napa Valley are names of wine regions. However, more than that, these names are also considered to be 'Geographical Indications' (GI). Although there are various (more and less accepted) definitions of the term Geographical Indications, it suffices to say, for present purposes, that GIs are the names of regions or localities which, when applied to wines, indicate that those wines come from that particular region. This is, of course, a simplistic definition.