A: The author thinks that the best way to protect "genuine medicinal materials" is to apply the relevant rules of the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and bring them into the protection scope of geographical indications.
TRIPS Agreement is a sub-agreement under the World Trade Organization Agreement, in which intellectual property protection plays a particularly important role in international and domestic trade. The definition of geographical indications in TRIPS Agreement is: it indicates that a commodity originated in a member region of the World Trade Organization, or originated in a certain region or place in the region, and the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of the commodity are mainly attributed to its geographical origin.
The protection principle of geographical indications mainly focuses on "prohibition" to prevent improper use of geographical names and signs. The agreement mainly points out four improper ways of use and their corresponding remedies: first, the use of untrue geographical indications in the name or description of goods makes the public misunderstand the origin of goods, which misleads the public to think that the use of the origin of goods should be stopped by legal means; The second is to use geographical indications in a way that may constitute unfair competition. In this regard, the agreement requires that it be stopped according to the relevant provisions of the 1967 Paris Convention; Third, the geographical indications marked by commodity trademarks are not used as their trademarks, thus misleading the public to identify the true source of commodities. The competent authority of the member party shall reject the application for registration of the trademark or cancel the registration of the trademark ex officio or at the request of the relevant parties; Fourth, the use of a geographical indication, although the geographical indication really shows the origin of the commodity, still misleads the public to think that the commodity originated in another region and should also be banned. Article 24 of the agreement stipulates some exceptions, including prior use, prior registration of trademarks, common names, protection of origin, etc. If a geographical indication is not protected or stopped in the country of origin, or stopped in the country of origin, the member has no obligation to protect the geographical indication. Is this yellow protected by geographical indications? Play? Hey? Br> Protection abroad depends on continuous protection at home.
The TRIPS Agreement does not stipulate the protection mode of geographical indications, and the legislative protection of geographical indications in the world mainly adopts four modes: anti-unfair competition law, trademark law, special legislation and mixed legislation. In China, geographical indications can be protected by applying for collective trademarks or certification trademarks, protecting products of geographical origin and protecting geographical indications of geographical origin. For example, Jiangyin Tianjiang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. registered its Chinese medicine formula granules with the mark of origin, becoming the first unit in the Chinese medicine industry to obtain the protection of the mark of origin. Therefore, the author believes that the protection of "geographical indications" is an effective measure to strengthen the protection of traditional Chinese medicine resources, especially the intellectual property protection of "authentic medicinal materials". China University of Political Science and Law Law School Jiang Xinning (Jiang Xinning)