Intangible Cultural Heritage as Part of Industrial Property: Geographical Indications

The aim of this overview study is to bring basic information on the system of safeguarding of selected elements of the intangible cultural heritage with an emphasis on the designation of products, while taking into account the geographical indication. It explains the current state related to the historical process of the origins and granting of protected designation to selected products in the former Czechoslovakia, in the Slovak Republic and the European Union. The study builds on the legal frameworks and definitions that are harmonised with industrial property protection, and observes the links between the categories of industry, intellectual property, and cultural heritage. For experts specialised in the safeguarding of the cultural heritage, it is important to know the historical development of this type of protection and its geopolitical dimension. They can thus analyse the strategies, functionality, and the impacts of safeguarding on the development of protected designations in the field of traditional folk culture and its functioning in society.