Controversial New Amendment to the Lisbon Agreement

By Nathaniel DeLucia

At the annual General Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), world IP leaders met to discuss a proposed amendment to the Lisbon Agreement.  The Lisbon Agreement authorized the WIPO to grant protection to member countries for appellations of origin (AO), as a form of intellectual property.  The proposed amendment would expand protections to include geographical indications (GIs) and allow international organizations to join the Lisbon Agreement. 

For complete coverage of the controversy, see Intellectual Property Watch’s article, located here.