Protection of Geographical Indications in ASEAN countries: Convergences and challenges to awakening sleeping Geographical Indications

Geographical indications (GIs) that identify products of origin were born in Southern Europe and extensively internationalized thanks to the World Trade Organization 1994 Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement. This paper investigates how GIs have developed in ASEAN and Asia, the most active new area for GIs worldwide. We explore the different legislations and their practical implementation in eight out of 10 ASEAN countries with a sui generis system (Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Singapore, Myanmar); and in India and Japan, two Asian countries with active GI policies. Building on a comparative analysis of these countries and the EU regulations on GIs, this paper focuses on the following aspects of the GI system: the sui generis institutional system and the kind of goods protected by GIs, the scope of protection against misuses, the nature of the applicants, and the nature of control of the GI before and after registration. The paper then identifies convergences and shared challenges and recommends some strategies to ensure the success of GIs in Asia. The main challenges shared by Asian countries concern the numerous registered GIs that are not used on the market, that is, they are Sleeping Beauties waiting to be awakened. This is explained by the convergence among ASEAN and Asian countries to a top-down state-driven approach. To move forward, we recommend more involvement of collective organizations to bring together value chain stakeholders who should play a central role in drawing up and managing GIs.