‘Adoption of Lisbon Agreement protects identity of local products’
Muscat - The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) has stated that Oman’s joining of the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications, which was ratified by Royal Decree No 19/2021 on February 15, 2021, provides legal protection to sultanate’s local products which bear geographical indications.
The products which will benefit include the Omani dagger, Omani frankincense, Omani sweets, Omani ships, pomegranates of Jebel Akhdar, Omani Jabalian goats, Southern cows, Omani lemons and Omani thyme, as the said act allows international registration of geographical indications in addition to appellations of origin.
The ministry pointed out that the adoption of the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement will also contribute to provide financial revenues to the sultanate as a result of the member states of the agreement protecting the appellations of origin and their geographical indications.
MoCIIP also called on all competent entities and authorities to carry out the international registration of local products which have geographical indications, in order to ensure their protection against any an external infringement.
Ali bin Hamad al Maamari, director of the Intellectual Property Department at MoCIIP, said, “The Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications was signed in Geneva on May 20, 2015, while it came into force on February 26, 2020.”
He added that the act strengthens the existing international registration system to protect names that identify the geographical origin of products, while the Lisbon Agreement applies to appellations of origin, which are a special type of geographical indications being placed on products that are closely related to their origin.
He pointed out that the act also provides maximum flexibility in implementing the legal protection standard (through a special system of appellations of origin or geographical indications, or through the trademark system).
He affirmed that the act also allows the accession of some intergovernmental organisations to it in a way that enhances the comprehensive character of the international protection system, while the Lisbon Agreement and the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement together provide effective and more comprehensive international protection for product names whose quality is related to a certain origin.
Maamari explained that the International Bureau of the Act maintains an international registry that records the international registrations that are made under this act or under the Lisbon Agreement and the 1967 Document or both, as well as maintains the data of these international registrations.
He explained that the application for the protection of geographical indications in the sultanate is being filed at the International Bureau of the Act via the Intellectual Property Department at MoCIIP.