Georgia, Moldova sign deal protecting geographical origins of products
Soso Giorgadze, the Chair of the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia, and Eugeniu Rusu, the Director of the State Agency of Intellectual Property of Moldova, signed an agreement on protecting geographical origins of products. Photo via Sakpatenti
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Products from Georgia and Moldova will be ensured to bear indications on their geographical origins in the two countries, after authorities signed a deal in Tbilisi on Wednesday.
Soso Giorgadze, the Chair of the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia, and Eugeniu Rusu, the Director of the State Agency of Intellectual Property of Moldova, inked the agreement intended to protect the indications from misuse, imitation or other actions that may mislead consumers over the true origins of the products.
As part of the deal, Georgian authorities pledged to protect 10 products, including Divin, a Moldovan beverage made from wine, with the status of their geographical indication indicating the country.
The Georgian agency also said it had signed similar agreements with Switzerland and Ukraine, and added the Association Agreement signed between Georgia and the European Union in 2014 also ensured the protection of the country’s geographical indications in the bloc’s member states.
The Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the United Kingdom provides for the protection of Georgian geographical indications in the country, while direct registration forms have been used with Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and China to prevent potential violations in the states, it added.
In regulations with the United States, the agency said 15 Georgian names of place of origin had been protected in the country as certification marks.
Georgian economy minister Levan Davitashvili on Wednesday said the development of the intellectual property system was one of the “important and priority” directions of the Georgian government.
Honey from Ninotsminda, the Samtskhe-Javakheti region has been added to the list of geographical indications.
Ham from Racha, a region in western Georgia and peaches from Gurjaani, a city in eastern Georgia, will be added to the list of geographical indications.
An EU-funded project called “Establishing Efficient Protection and Control System of Geographical Indications (GIs) in Georgia” will seek to boost the efficient protection and control system of Georgia’s geographical indications.
Georgia will host the Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications in June, Soso Giorgadze, the head of the country’s National Intellectual Property Centre, said on Tuesday.
About 250 researchers, policymakers and professionals will gather in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi in June to exchange ideas as part of the Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications.