Designations of origin and geographical indications of products

An application for registration of a designation of origin in the International Register of the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva is based on the registration and protection of the designation of origin or geographical indication at national or regional level.

The international application must be followed by a registration fee, the amount of which is set out in Rule 8 of the Common Implementing Provisions of the Lisbon Agreement on the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration and the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications.

The international registration of a designation of origin shall have the same effects as the registration of a designation of origin by the Office. An internationally registered designation of origin which is refused protection in the Slovak Republic shall be treated as if it had not been registered in the Slovak Republic.

Persons who do not have their permanent residence or registered office in the Slovak Republic must be represented by a patent agent or an attorney in proceedings before the Office.

The international application must state:

• the country of origin,
• the proprietor or proprietors of the right to use the appellation of origin named by a common name or, if common naming is impossible, named individually,
• the designation of origin to be registered in the official language of the country of origin,
• the goods for which the designation is applied for,
• the area of production of the goods,
• the name and date of entry into force of the legislation or administrative regulations, court decisions or the date and number of the registration under which the designation of origin is protected in the country of origin.

On 20 May 2015, the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications (hereinafter referred to as the "Geneva Act") was adopted, revising the Lisbon Agreement on the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration of 31 October 1958, revised at Stockholm on 14 July 1967 (hereinafter referred to as the "Lisbon Agreement"). This Act extends the possibility of international protection to the international protection of geographical indications in addition to designations of origin of a product. Another important amendment to the Geneva Act gives the possibility for intergovernmental organisations to become a party to it.

https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/treaties/en/documents/pdf/lisbon.pdf (.pdf, 118 kB)

The European Union (an intergovernmental organisation) deposited its instruments of ratification at the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva on 26 November 2019 and the Geneva Act entered into force on 26 February 2020.

Pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Union's action following its accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on designations of origin and geographical indications, applications for international registration of geographical indications and designations of origin protected and registered under Union law and relating to products protected under one of the Regulations1 (agricultural products and foodstuffs, wines, aromatised wine products and spirits) originating in the Union shall be submitted to the International Bureau of the WIPO by the Commission, as the competent authority of a Contracting Party within the meaning of Article 3 of the Geneva Act. An application for international registration of a designation of origin or geographical indication protected and registered under Union law shall be sent to the Commission by an authorised person-group through the competent authority of a Member State, i.e. the CVO of the Slovak Republic.

The international application must be followed by a registration fee, the amount of which is set out in Rule 8 of the Implementing Rules to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications. The fee shall be paid by the applicant directly to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

In the case of a designation of origin or geographical indication protected and registered under Union law, the International Bureau shall communicate with the Commission as the competent authority for the European Union and the Commission shall subsequently communicate with the competent authority of the Member State, i.e. the OHIM.

According to Article 11 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Union's action following its accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on designations of origin and geographical indications, any designation of origin originating in a Member State that is a party to the Lisbon Agreement, for a product that is protected under one of the Regulations listed in the footnote, the Member State concerned shall, at the request of a natural or legal person or legal entity, or on its own initiative, choose whether to apply for

1. the international registration of that designation under the Geneva Act,
2. cancellation of the registration of that designation of origin in the international register.

It follows from the above that the continuation of the protection of a registered designation of origin under the Lisbon Agreement for a product falling within the scope of one of the above Regulations (agricultural products and foodstuffs, wines, aromatised wine products and spirits) is conditional on the registration of that product name under Union law, i.e. in a register kept by the European Commission, and, following its registration, the European Commission, as the competent authority of the Contracting Party (EU), will send an application for international registration of that designation under the Geneva Act to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

The Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic, as the competent authority of the Contracting Party for the Slovak Republic, shall send the Commission a list of designations of origin of products and request the international registration of those designations of origin under the Geneva Act.

In the event that an application for registration of a designation of origin under the Geneva Act is not filed or is refused under the applicable Regulation, the Member State concerned shall immediately apply for cancellation of the registration of the designation of origin in the international register. The time limit granted to the EU Member States concerned to ensure the continuity of the international protection in question is set out in Article 11(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1753 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which is no later than 14 November 2022.

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• Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs,
• Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007 (wine)
• Regulation (EU) 2019/787 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the definition, description, presentation and labelling of spirit drinks, the use of the names of spirit drinks in the presentation and labelling of other foodstuffs, the protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks, the use of ethyl alcohol and spirits of agricultural origin in alcoholic beverages and repealing Regulation (EC) No 110/2008
• Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and protection of geographical indications of aromatised wine products and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1601/91.