The Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications (Lisbon, Portugal) took place from July 2 to 4, 2019.

The Symposium was organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Portuguese National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) with the support of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

More than 300 people from 66 countries, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Romania, Spain, USA, participated in the Symposium. The event was also attended by representatives of WIPO, the European Union (EU), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ARIPO, the European Communities Trade Mark Association (ECTA), the Association of European Trade Mark Owners (MARQUES), the Organization for an International Geographic Indications Network (oriGIn), and the Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN).

The Symposium was opened by Francisca Van Dunem, Portuguese Minister of Justice, who said it was a great honor and responsibility to host such an event.

For his part, Francis Gurry, WIPO’s Director General, highlighted several aspects of the importance of geographical indications for the economic development of states (https://www.wipo.int/about-wipo/en/dgo/news/2019/news_0048 .html).

Among the guest of honor at this event was present Christian Archambeau, EUIPO’s Executive Director, who emphasized that interest in geographical indications has increased recently. Thus, a chapter on the protection of geographical indications is also more frequently included in bilateral agreements between countries. EUIPO’s involvement in the examination of conflicts between trademarks and geographical indications is also increasing.

At the Symposium were presented 20 communications distributed in 7 sections according to the Agenda (https://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/sct/en/wipo_geo_lis_19/wipo_geo_lis_19_inf_1_prov.pdf)

• Update on Geographical Indications presented by WIPO and Portugal;
• Regional Update on Geographical Indications;
• International and Regional Tools and Initiatives for Protecting Geographical Indications;
• Geographical Indications and Common Names;
• Portuguese-speaking countries – Initiatives for Protecting Geographical Indications;
• Adding Value Through Geographical Indications;
• Geographic Indications and the Internet.

All communications will be published on the Symposium page (https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=51446).

During the plenary discussions was presented the information on the Study on the Identification of Traditional Moldovan Products with Potential to Be Registered with Geographical Indications (67 products) or as Traditional Specialty Guaranteed, carried out within the framework of the project funded by the European Union “Support to Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the Republic of Moldova”. It was also noted that during the year 2019 new applications for protection of geographical indications and for the first traditional specialty guaranteed were filed for registration.

Republic of Moldova was represented by Simion Levitchi, Head of Trademarks and Industrial Design Direction, State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (AGEPI).