In my country, there are currently three national departments that register, register and manage geographical indications. The Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce carries out legal registration and management in the form of collective trademarks or certification marks, and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Ministry of Agriculture protect and manage geographical indications in the form of registration. Among them, since the National Trademark Office registers geographical indications in the form of trademarks and therefore has legal status, the protection of geographical indication products is more powerful.

Geographical indications are formed based on the natural conditions of the place of origin and the collective wisdom of generations of workers in the place of origin. They should be collectively owned by the workers in the place of origin and are a collective right rather than a public right, because Public rights are political rights, while private rights are property rights and personal rights between equal subjects. As far as geographical indications are concerned, geographical indications are obviously private rights, because geographical indications are a type of intellectual property rights and civil rights. Therefore, the interests arising from geographical indications belong to civil legal relations and are a typical private right. We can only say that in the process of operating and managing geographical indications, public power intervenes, but it cannot change the private nature of geographical indications. The international protection of geographical indications was first reflected in the 1883 Paris Convention, but there was no clear definition at that time. Article 1, Item 2 of the Convention stipulates: The objects of protection of industrial property rights include patents and utility models. , designs, trademarks, service marks, manufacturer names, supply marks and names of origin and to prevent unfair competition. Article 10 provides for false marking: goods with false origin or production marks shall be seized upon import. The Convention only prohibits the most common forms of deception in geographical indications, but does not provide systematic protection for geographical indications. Moreover, the protection of geographical indications is stipulated from the perspective of economic law, not from the perspective of economic law. The rights and obligations of right holders are stipulated from the perspective of "private law", but it is the first step taken by the international community to protect geographical indications. Article 1, paragraph 1, of the Madrid Agreement for the Suppression of False or Deceptive Markings of Origin of Goods stipulates: “If any goods are found to bear a false or deceptive mark concerning a Member State or an enterprise or place within a Member State, whether directly or Indirectly, the goods must be prohibited from being imported or detained at the time of import, or other sanctions must be taken.” This provision is the core provision of the agreement to protect geographical indications. In addition, the agreement prohibits the use of labels on advertisements or promotional materials that deceive the public about the source of goods. From this we can see that the agreement mainly provides for geographical indications from the perspective of economic law. The Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration stipulates the concept of geographical indications for the first time. Article 2 of the Agreement stipulates: "A geographical name of a country, region or place used to indicate the origin of a product, and the product The quality and characteristics arise entirely or mainly from the geographical environment, including natural and man-made factors.” Not only that, the agreement further broadens the scope of protection of geographical indications. Article 3 of the agreement stipulates that it prohibits any misappropriation or imitation of the origin. The act of labeling, even if the real product origin is used, or the origin label is used in a translated manner, or the use of labels such as "similar", "type", and "imitation" is prohibited. What is particularly noteworthy is that the Agreement stipulates the international registration procedures for geographical indications, and stipulates that for geographical indications that have been internationally registered, each member state should prohibit the use of the indication without permission. Therefore, it can be said that this agreement has taken a major step forward in the international protection of geographical indications. It has laid a solid foundation for the protection of geographical indications and is of milestone significance. The Bangui Agreement, formulated in 1977 in Bangui, the capital of Central Africa, was the world's first regional agreement to create comprehensive transnational industrial property rights and copyrights. Regarding the protection of geographical indications, there are many provisions that are of great reference to us, especially the provisions on illegal acts and sanctions for illegal acts. Article 51 of the Agreement The following acts are illegal: (1) Directly or indirectly using origin markings on goods or services or using false or deceptive representations of their producers, manufacturers or supplies themselves. (2) Direct or indirect use of false or deceptive names of origin or counterfeit names of origin, even if the true place of origin is indicated on the product or the name is in translated form or accompanied by words such as "type", "type", The same applies to "style", "imitation" or similar terms.

Article 36 of the Agreement stipulates: (1) The registered owner of a trademark, when his rights under Article 18 are threatened or infringed upon, may initiate proceedings to prevent the infringement or prohibit continued infringement. (2) When those rights are infringed, the registered owner of the trademark may also claim damages and impose any other sanctions provided for in the civil code. Article 37 of the Agreement stipulates that such crimes shall be punished by fines or imprisonment or both. Article 22 of the TRIPS Agreement stipulates the definition of geographical indications: “A geographical indication is an indication that identifies a commodity as originating from the territory of a member or an area or place within that territory, and the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of the commodity are Mainly arising from the geographical origin. "The TRIPS Agreement is the clearest definition of geographical indications after the first definition of geographical indications in the Lisbon Agreement. Paragraph 2 stipulates that “with regard to geographical indications, members shall provide interested parties with legal means to prevent: (1) In the marking or description of goods, express or imply in any way that the goods come from a place other than their true origin. geographical area, while misleading the public as to the geographical origin of the goods; (2) Any use that constitutes an act of unfair competition within the meaning of Article 10bis of the Paris Convention (1967). Paragraph 3 provides: “If a The geographical indication of the goods included in the trademark or as an integral part of it does not originate from the territory indicated by it, and the use of the trademark in the member for such goods will cause the public to have doubts about the true geographical origin of the goods. If a misunderstanding occurs, the member shall, if permitted by its legislation, refuse registration of the trademark or declare it invalid ex officio or at the request of an interested party. "Paragraph 4 provides: "Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3. The protection shall apply to geographical indications that falsely represent to the public that the goods originate from another region, even though they are literally true as to the region, region or place of origin of the goods. True, but any use that would lead to false or misleading consequences is also prohibited. It can be seen from the provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 that these two provisions focus on the protection of geographical indication stakeholders and protect them from the perspective of private law. It can be seen from the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement on the protection of geographical indications that while protecting geographical indications from the perspective of economic law, it also focuses more on the protection of geographical indications from the perspective of private law, which is consistent with the private law attributes of geographical indications. of. Therefore, it can be said that the TRIPS Agreement is the most complete international treaty to date providing for the protection of geographical indications. Our country is an ancient civilization with a long history, a vast territory and rich geographical resources, which has created a number of agricultural products and industrial products with local characteristics. In terms of geographical indications, my country is a big country. Geographical indications are one of my country's advantages in the field of intellectual property and a strong point in my country's foreign trade. But the reality we have to face is that domestic enterprises use geographical indications blindly and disorderly. Some of my country’s famous geographical indications have been counterfeited by others overseas. my country’s legal system of geographical indications has not played its due role. Therefore, It is necessary to strengthen research in this area to improve my country's geographical indication legal system.