The Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement: Controversial Negotiations and Controversial Results

Abstract

This chapter examines the historical process that led to the adoption of the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin, and some of the debates that may arise as ratification and implementation of the new Act progress. The chapter also considers whether common law jurisdictions are likely to eventually join the updated Lisbon system and the potential motivations for doing so, as at the time of this writing, none were part of this system yet. The chapter observes that the bridge between Lisbon and the common law system has not yet been built because of the different approaches of the Old World and New World representatives to appellations of origin as governed by the Geneva Act. Old World representatives are normatively rigid and concerned with preserving traditional elements such as terroir while New World representatives are concerned with elements of genericness and economic value. Thus, the adoption of the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement represents a clear chance to reconcile the Lisbon system doctrinally and render it more appealing to a larger array of countries.