The Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications has officially entered into force. The international registration system provides protection for names identifying the geographical origin of products such as: coffee, tea, fruits, wine, pottery, glass or cloth.

The Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement, adopted on May 20, 2015, allows now the international registration of geographical indications through a single registration procedure with WIPO, and permits the accession by certain intergovernmental organizations, in particular the European Union and the African Intellectual Property Organization (OHIM).

The European Union’s November 26, 2019, accession permitted the Geneva Act’s entry into force three months later – on February 26, 2020.

The treaty represents a revised version of the Lisbon Arrangement on the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration signed on October 31, 1958, and was adopted in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Diplomatic Conference on May 11-21, 2015. Republic Moldova has actively participated in the entire process of negotiation and adoption of the document. On 11.04.2016, the Republic of Moldova signed the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications.