The Industrial Property Registry has currently only three trademarks of origins in force: Costa Rican coffee, Costa Rican bananas and cheese from Turrialba.
In November 2012 a designation of origin was registered for Turrialba cheese after 6 years of paperwork but it has not been used for matters other than the control of Property Registry.
The country will ask the European Union to discuss the geographical designations in parallel so that the agreement can enter into force in December.
This was explained by Estuardo Castillo, president of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport), who added that "this is what Costa Rica did and there was a good result."
The delay is due the eight still unresolved oppositions filed by Italy, France and Spain in September related to Geographical Indications.
Sergio de la Torre, Guatemalan Economy Minister had announced that the agreement would take effect in November, however, everything seems to have be delayed by another month.
Foreign companies have objected to the registration of European GIs only 6 hours before reaching the deadline to do so.
From a statement by AGEXPORT:
AGEXPORT regrets that six hours before the deadline for the period of opposition to the registration of geographical indications, requested by Europe, foreign companies have raised objections.
The country has fulfilled the last requirement which was pending, the registration of geographical indications, meaning that the Association Agreement could come into force in November.
The Ministry of Economy will notify on September 30 that it has complied with the ratification of the Association Agreement with the European Union and with the 60-day period required for amendments to the Law on Industrial Property related to geographical indications.
The country has resolved the differences it had with Italy, allowing the Association Agreement with the European Union to enter into force as soon as possible.
Italy has asked the Public Registry of Costa Rica for an extenstion of one month to defend three of the six GIs for cheeses under discussion.
The request was made at the Public Registry on September 13 when documentation was presented in defense of the cheeses, Emmental Provolone Valpadana and Manchego.
It is an issue to keep in mind to add value to Central American export products and to avoid trade disputes.
Months ago the Guatemalan Congress ratified a number of amendments to the Copyright Act in order to protect Geographical Indications and Designations of Origin as provided by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and requested within the Association Agreement with EU.
Conflicts over designations of origin or geographical indications are becoming more common.
An article in Elfinancierocr.com reports that "Costa Rica should identify appropriate channels for conflict resolution if it wants to increase its share in the market with products which are protected by designation of origin (DO) or geographical indication (GI)."
National regulations are to be adjusted to conform to the Association Agreement with the European Union, giving added value to designations of origin or geographical identifications.
From a press release issued by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador:
The role of GI and DO in the development of Central America regarding agriculture, rural development and biodiversity management.
The strong growth of international trade in goods and services over the past fifteen years within the context of economic globalization has led to a growing concern about the need to incorporate various intellectual property issues in multilateral, regional and bilateral trade agreements. Within this area, one of the most debated issues in the negotiations of these agreements is that of distinctive signs such as trademarks and geographical indications (GIs), and more specifically the level of protection they should be granted.
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