On Protection Of Geographical Indications In China

There are three backbones of WTO, which are commodity trade, service trade and intellectual property rights. Among the three backbones, neither commodity trade nor service trade can be departed from the protection of intellectual right. Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is the most important rules of WTO. As one of the contents of TRIPS, geographical indication is the subject which we have to face if we want to study WTO rules. In another hand, protection of geographical indication is greatly needed to our country. China has long history and broad territory. It is very rich in the resource of geographical indication products. A large number of special agricultural products and handiwork products are well-known in the world. To protect geographical indication of these products can maintain the good fame of them and bring great interests to the producers. It is also a functional way to solve the problem of agriculture, village and peasant. However, the protection of geographical indication is very weak in China both in the law and practice. This thesis is trying to analyze the source and development, the definition and law attribute of geographical indication. It will explain the protection of representative countries and the articles of relative international treaties. It will also analyze the present status and problems in the protection of geographical indication in China. As a result, it will give some suggestions to build a sound system to protect the geographic indication in China.