The Legal System for the Protection of Geographical Indications: A Study in Jordanian and Comparative Law

Abstract

The study introduces the right to Geographical Indications (GIs) as emerging theme in the law, to which lot of legislations have paid attention for its positive impact on the fair competition, protection of consumer, stimulation of the economy and development of societies. It shows the GIs identity that made it separate and distinct from other rights, and also sought to indicate the ways and scope of the protection as well as the conditions of indications for the protection mainly under the Jordanian law. Several other laws also have been treated such as the French law, the EC laws and some Arab laws. The legal framework for the protection of GIs varies dramatically from one country to another whether in terms of definition, procedures, scope and means of protection have been compared and emerged that the protection in Jordan and France was based on the rules of trademarks. Then they resorted to approve special legal rules for the GIs as a separate and stand-alone legal system. However, there are two levels of protection in France: the protection of the simple level enjoyed by all GIs and the enhanced protection which the GIs have for certain products. The effective protection of GIs gives added value to the economy of nations and, the application of GIs laws requires cooperation between producers, owners of indications and relevant institutions. It is preferred to resort to the idea of registration of GIs in a special record to facilitate the making of legal protection measures. Also, the protection of the GIs shall be available through a special law as one of the intellectual property issues.