Georgia to host Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications
The Georgian PM on Tuesday met with the head of the country’s National Intellectual Property Centre. Photo: Government press office
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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.
Set to run as a forum for “exchanging ideas and perspectives on issues relating to the use and protection of geographical indications”, the event will bring international experts from academia, state institutions, non-governmental actors and more in its latest edition.
The biannual forum hosts discussions on geographical indications, their protection and impact, as well as their relation to trade, sustainability and other questions.
Giorgadze on Tuesday met Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to review the hosting of the Symposium, while also discussing his office’s work on protecting Georgia’s geographical indications.
He noted the Centre had signed an agreement with Moldova earlier this month to protect the indications of the two countries from misuse, imitation or other actions that could mislead consumers over the true origins of relevant products.
He also said the deals had been struck with several countries to directly register Georgia’s geographical indications, with talks ongoing with other states.
In discussion on other topics, the official cited “effective steps” being taken for copyright protection, and noted his agency was working on a bill with the Parliament's Culture Committee to ensure protection of legal rights of owners of intellectual property.
Giorgadze added an auditing company had also been selected to study questions of management of authors' property rights by a “collective” domestic organisation.
The Centre has also launched a paid intern programme and recruited students from domestic universities with the aim of producing qualified personnel, he also told the PM.
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.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday met Soso Giorgadze, the newly appointed chair of the national intellectual property centre Sakpatenti, to review current and planned projects of the body, the government administration said.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday discussed “fruitful cooperation”, ongoing and future projects with Daren Tang, the director general of the World Intellectual Property Organisation in a Tbilisi meeting, the government administration said.
A new online intellectual property (IP) filing service is making it easier for Georgian and foreign entrepreneurs to register their creations online and avoid someone stealing their intellectual property.
The principal directions of the cooperation between Georgia and Poland were discussed on Tuesday in a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Diana Zhgenti, the country’s newly appointed Ambassador to Poland.
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.
The Parliament of Georgia on Thursday discussed and approved amendments aimed to reduce illegal logging, increase quality and competitiveness of Georgian wine, and combine the system of geographical indications for domestic products with the corresponding European Union structure.