• GI - Geographical Indications

 
GI
Geographical Indications Project

In partnership with the United Nations International Trade Centre.

 
What do Parmigiano cheese, Tequila, Idaho potatoes, and Darjeeling tea have in common?

Geographical Indications (GIs) or appellations are a potentially unique form of competitive advantage available even for small farmers and enterprises. In more than a hundred nations, they are a unique expression of local agro-ecological and even cultural characteristics that have come to be valued as high quality traditions and are sometimes protected.

A multinational team reviewed more than 200 studies and publications on the topic and gathered together new case studies in order to evaluate what different developing country origins have done and document best practices and lessons learned.

Our goal is to provide an objective 'Guide' to understanding, forming, and using GIs effectively. The 'Guide to GIs for Developing Countries' will be published by the UN's International Trade Center.

The research team includes contributors that are among the world's most respected in this particular field of intellectual property:
♦ Fred Abbott (Edward Ball Eminent Scholar, Professor of International Law FSU)
♦ Daniele Giovannucci, (Team Leader)
♦ Justin Hughes (Director, Intellectual Property Law Program at Cardozo)
♦ Catarina Illsley (Head, GEA Grupo de Estudios Ambientales)
♦ Ricardo Juarez (Researcher FAO)
♦ Tim Josling (Professor Emeritus Stanford University)
♦ William Kerr (Agricultural Economics chair at University of Saskatchewan and editor of the Journal of International Law and Trade Policy)
♦ Bernard O'Connor (EU Attorney and Professor of Law, author of 'Agriculture in WTO Law' and 'The Law of Geographical Indications').
♦ Koen Oosterom Technical Cooperation Coordination International Trade Centre, UNCTAD/WTO
♦ Dwijen Rangnekar (Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation and the School of Law Warwick University)
♦ Kira Schroeder (Project manager INCAE-CIMS)
♦ May Yeung (Policy Analysis Research Associate The Estey Centre)