In 2019, yes, on October 16 this year, the Juice Bureau issued the "Special Mark for Geographical Indication" and stipulated that "the original special mark for related geographical indication products will be abolished at the same time, and the transition period for the use of the original mark will be December 31, 2020". The newly released special geographical indication mark adopts a tomato scrambled egg color scheme, painted with red and gold elements:

So, before the release of the new special geographical indication mark, the "original special mark for related geographical indication products" What is it like? It’s a long story, let’s start with the original three different special signs for geographical indications:

1 Special signs for geographical indication protection products

Special signs for geographical indication protection products The sign is marked with "PGI", which stands for Protected Geographical Indication.

Prior to the institutional reform of the State Council in 2018, geographical indication protected products were managed by the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (also known as the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine).

For example, the picture below is the logo of Gannan Navel Orange. The center of the green globe and the Chinese map is marked with "PGI", and the words "Gannan Navel Orange" are written in the special logo and below the Chinese map. .

2 Special signs for geographical indications and trademarks

The special signs for geographical indications and trademarks are marked with "GI", which is Geographical Indication.

Prior to the institutional reform of the State Council in 2018, geographical indication trademarks were managed by the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

For example, the picture below is the geographical indication trademark of Liuzhou Luoshi Noodles. The green area with the Temple of Heaven as the background is marked with the words "GI" and "Chinese Geographical Indication" in the center, and wheat ears are also used inside and outside. After a circle, "Liuzhou Snail Rice Noodles" was marked outside the geographical indication trademark pattern.

3 Special signs for geographical indications of agricultural products

The geographical indications of agricultural products are marked with "geographical indications of agricultural products", that is, Agro-product Geographical Indications.

Prior to the institutional reform of the State Council in 2018, geographical indications of agricultural products were managed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The State Council’s institutional reform (2018) has the following points that are closely related to geographical indications:

① Establish the State Administration for Market Regulation. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the State Food and Drug Administration will no longer be retained.

② Integrate the responsibilities of the State Intellectual Property Office, the trademark management responsibilities of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the management responsibilities of geographical indications of origin of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and reorganize the State Intellectual Property Office. Managed by the State Administration for Market Regulation.

③Establish the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and no longer retain the Ministry of Agriculture.

This means:

① The State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has canceled the geographical indication protected products originally managed by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, and has been assigned to the Fruit Juice Bureau (Intellectual Property Protection Department) Department for the Protection of Geographical Indications and Official Indications).

②The Trademark Office, which was originally affiliated with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, was placed under the jurisdiction of the Juice Bureau. This "overall migration" will not actually affect the management of geographical indication trademarks. The Trademark Office still uses collective trademarks and certificates. Applications for geographical indication trademarks are accepted in the form of trademarks.

③The geographical indications of agricultural products were changed to be managed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. You know, the Ministry of Agriculture became the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. There were no major changes in the geographical indications of agricultural products.

Some friends would like to ask again: Does the newly released special sign for geographical indications replace the original three signs?

According to your careful review, Announcement No. 332 states that “the original special marks for related geographical indication products shall be abolished at the same time.” Therefore, it seems that it has only replaced the original special marks for geographical indication protected products. That's a sign.

Announcement No. 332 also mentioned: "Measures for the management of the use of special signs for geographical indications will be separately formulated and issued by the State Intellectual Property Office", so we still have to wait for the official explanation.

On June 19, 2019, the Office of the Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference on the Implementation of the Intellectual Property Strategy of the State Council issued the "2019 Promotion Plan for Deeply Implementing the National Intellectual Property Strategy and Accelerating the Construction of an Intellectual Property Powerful Country". The first article mentions It is necessary to "explore the establishment of a unified recognition system for geographical indications and optimize the registration and administrative adjudication procedures for geographical indications."

According to common sense, should "unification of geographical indications" include geographical indication products, geographical indication trademarks, Are all geographical indications of agricultural products unified? The main subjects of geographical indications are generally various agricultural and sideline products, such as Pinggu peaches, Daokou roast chicken, Horqin fat cattle, Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, and Pixian watercress. Is it possible that the Juice Bureau also plans to let farmers, herdsmen and fishermen friends distinguish them on their own? These three different concepts?

Now that the special logo for geographical indication products under the supervision of the Juice Bureau has been changed, the next step may be to communicate with the Trademark Office that already has a affiliation with it and change the special logo for geographical indication trademarks. The next step is probably to communicate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and change the geographical indications of agricultural products. This can be considered unified.