IP News Eastern Europe
Georgia joins Lisbon Agreement
July 26, 2004
On June 23, 2004, Georgia joined Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration.
The Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration (Lisbon Agreement), with respect to Georgia, will enter into force on September 23, 2004.
In addition to Georgia, the members of the Lisbon Agreement, the so called Lisbon Union, include Algeria, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Gabon, Haiti, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovakia, Togo and Tunisia.
The first attempts to harmonize the different approaches and standards that governments used to register geographical indications (Gis) were found in the Paris Convention on trademarks (1883). However, it wasn’t until the 1958 Lisbon Agreement that first elaborate provisions on Gis were presented.