Geographical Indication (Registration & Protection) Act, 2020
The Geographical Indication (Registration and Protection) Act, 2020 was enacted to provide for registration and protection of geographical indications of goods for public interest and advancing the economic reform and development of the least developed areas of Pakistan. The Geographical Indication (Registration and Protection) Act, 2020 also works to provide legal means for interested parties to prevent the use of any means in the designation or presentation of goods that indicates or suggests that the goods in question originate in a geographical area and to prevent any use which constitutes an act of unfair competition within the meaning of Article 22 of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Geographical Indication (GI) in relation to goods includes an indication which identifies such goods as agricultural goods, natural goods or manufactured goods originating or manufactured or produced in a territory or a region or locality as determined by the country, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristics of the goods or the ingredients or components, is essentially attributable to is geographical origin and in the case of manufactured goods one of the activities of either the production or processing or preparation of the goods concerned takes place in such territory, region or locality as the case may be. Under this Act any name which is not the name of a territory or a region a locality or a country shall also be considered as a geographical indication if such name refers to or indicates the origin of goods within or from a specific geographical area within that country and is used upon or in relation to particular goods originating from or with in that country or a territory or a region or locality within that country. It further lays that on the commencement of this Act any geographical indication registered under the TradeMarks Ordinance, 2001(XIX of 2001), shall automatically stand repealed and a fresh registration process under this Act shall require to be initiated. A non-exhaustive indicative list of prospective geographical indications of Islamic Republic of Pakistan is provided for fresh registration process in the Schedule of the Act.
