Korea: EU-Korea FTA further consolidates protection of geographical indications

The EU-Korea FTA has been in force provisionally since 1 July 2011. With regard to the IP rights, it focuses particularly on the protection of geographical indications (GI) (see also news item of 11 October 2010). The agreement includes a list of 226 commercially  important agricultural products that qualify for a high level of protection - 162 from Europe and 64 from Korea. In order to protect these GIs, the two parties agreed on the following stipulations:

• It is not allowed to receive trade mark protection for products which are identical or similar to the 226 GIs on the list
• It is not allowed to use translations or even mere transcriptions of the above mentioned GIs for other products.
• It is not allowed to use the names of the above mentioned GIs in connection with other regions, for example in "California Champagne".

However, the two parties also agreed on a few exceptions to these regulations. The name of a GI may be allowed if it has been widely used for a long time for a special type of product, such as "Camembert" or "Mozarella" cheese. Furthermore GIs may be used for items of totally different product categories such as "Porto television" which has no connection to the "Porto Wine" registered as GI.

For further information, please refer to KIPO news of 4 July 2011 (in Korean only)