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Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration [1979] WIPOATSer 3

Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration

of October 31, 1958,
as revised at Stockholm on July 14, 1967,
and as amended on September 28, 1979

Article 1 Establishment of a Special Union; Protection of Appellations of Origin Registered at the International Bureau
Article 2 Definition of Notions of Appellation of Origin and Country of Origin
Article 3 Content of Protection
Article 4 Protection by virtue of Other Texts
Article 5 International Registration; Refusal; Notifications; Use Tolerated for a Fixed Period
Article 6 Shield Against Becoming Generic
Article 7 Period of Validity of Registration; Fee
Article 8 Legal Proceedings
Article 9 Assembly of the Special Union
Article 10 International Bureau
Article 11 Finances
Article 12 Amendment of Articles 9 to 12
Article 13 Regulations; Revision
Article 14 Ratification and Accession; Entry into Force; Reference to Article 24 of Paris Convention (Territories); Accession to the Original Act of 1958
Article 15 Duration of the Agreement; Denunciation
Article 16 Application of the Original Act of 1958
Article 17 Signature, Languages, Depository Functions
Article 18 Transitional Provisions

Article 1
Establishment of a Special Union; Protection of Appellations of Origin Registered at the International Bureau
1

(1) The countries to which this Agreement applies constitute a Special Union within the framework of the Union for the Protection of Industrial Property.

(2) They undertake to protect on their territories, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, the appellations of origin of products of the other countries of the Special Union, recognized and protected as such in the country of origin and registered at the International Bureau of Intellectual Property (hereinafter designated as "the International Bureau" or "the Bureau") referred to in the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (hereinafter designated as "the Organization").

Article 2
Definition of Notions of Appellation of Origin and Country of Origin

(1) In this Agreement, "appellation of origin" means the geographical denomination of a country, region, or locality, which serves to designate a product originating therein, the quality or characteristics of which are due exclusively or essentially to the geographical environment, including natural and human factors.

(2) The country of origin is the country whose name, or the country in which is situated the region or locality whose name, constitutes the appellation of origin which has given the product its reputation.

Article 3
Content of Protection

Protection shall be ensured against any usurpation or imitation, even if the true origin of the product is indicated or if the appellation is used in translated form or accompanied by terms such as "kind," "type," "make," "imitation," or the like.

Article 4
Protection by virtue of Other Texts

The provisions of this Agreement shall in no way exclude the protection already granted to appellations of origin in each of the countries of the Special Union by virtue of other international instruments, such as the Paris Convention of March 20, 1883, for the Protection of Industrial Property and its subsequent revisions, and the Madrid Agreement of April 14, 1891, for the Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods and its subsequent revisions, or by virtue of national legislation or court decisions.

Article 5
International Registration; Refusal; Notifications; Use Tolerated for a Fixed Period

(1) The registration of appellations of origin shall be effected with the International Bureau, at the request of the Authorities of the countries of the Special Union, in the name of any natural persons or legal entities, public or private, having, according to their national legislation, the right to use such appellations.

(2) The International Bureau shall, without delay, notify the Authorities of the various countries of the Special Union of such registrations, and shall publish them in a periodical.

(3) The Authority of any country may declare that it cannot ensure the protection of an appellation of origin whose registration has been notified to it, but only in so far as its declaration is notified to the International Bureau, together with an indication of the grounds therefor, within a period of one year from the receipt of the notification of registration, and provided that such declaration is not detrimental, in the country concerned, to the other forms of protection of the appellation which the owner thereof may be entitled to claim under Article 4, above.

(4) Such declaration may not be opposed by the Authorities of the countries of the Union after the expiration of the period of one year provided for in the foregoing paragraph.

(5) The International Bureau shall, as soon as possible, notify the Authority of the country of origin of any declaration made under the terms of paragraph (3) by the Authority of another country. The interested party, when informed by his national Authority of the declaration made by another country, may resort, in that other country, to all the judicial and administrative remedies open to the nationals of that country.

(6) If an appellation which has been granted protection in a given country pursuant to notification of its international registration has already been used by third parties in that country from a date prior to such notification, the competent Authority of the said country shall have the right to grant to such third parties a period not exceeding two years to terminate such use, on condition that it advise the International Bureau accordingly during the three months following the expiration of the period of one year provided for in paragraph (3), above.

Article 6
Shield Against Becoming Generic

An appellation which has been granted protection in one of the countries of the Special Union pursuant to the procedure under Article 5 cannot, in that country, be deemed to have become generic, as long as it is protected as an appellation of origin in the country of origin.

Article 7
Period of Validity of Registration; Fee

(1) Registration effected with the International Bureau in conformity with Article 5 shall ensure, without renewal, protection for the whole of the period referred to in the foregoing Article.

(2) A single fee shall be paid for the registration of each appellation of origin.

Article 8
Legal Proceedings

Legal action required for ensuring the protection of appellations of origin may be taken in each of the countries of the Special Union under the provisions of the national legislation:

Article 9
Assembly of the Special Union

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5) The Assembly shall adopt its own rules of procedure.

Article 10
International Bureau

(1)

(2) The Director General and any staff member designated by him shall participate, without the right to vote, in all meetings of the Assembly and of such committees of experts or working groups as may have been established by the Assembly. The Director General, or a staff member designated by him, shall be ex officio secretary of those bodies.

(3)

(4) The International Bureau shall carry out any other tasks assigned to it.

Article 11
Finances

(1)

(2) The budget of the Special Union shall be established with due regard to the requirements of coordination with the budgets of the other Unions administered by the Organization.

(3) The budget of the Special Union shall be financed from the following sources:

(4)

(5)

(6) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (4)(a), the amount of fees and charges due for other services rendered by the International Bureau in relation to the Special Union shall be established, and shall be reported to the Assembly, by the Director General.

(7)

(8)

(9) The auditing of the accounts shall be effected by one or more of the countries of the Special Union or by external auditors, as provided in the financial regulations. They shall be designated, with their agreement, by the Assembly.

Article 12
Amendment of Articles 9 to 12

(1) Proposals for the amendment of Articles 9, 10, 11, and the present Article, may be initiated by any country member of the Assembly, or by the Director General. Such proposals shall be communicated by the Director General to the member countries of the Assembly at least six months in advance of their consideration by the Assembly.

(2) Amendments to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall be adopted by the Assembly. Adoption shall require three-fourths of the votes cast, provided that any amendment to Article 9, and to the present paragraph, shall require four-fifths of the votes cast.

(3) Any amendment to the Articles referred to in paragraph (1) shall enter into force one month after written notifications of acceptance, effected in accordance with their respective constitutional processes, have been received by the Director General from three-fourths of the countries members of the Assembly at the time it adopted the amendment. Any amendment to the said Articles thus accepted shall bind all the countries which are members of the Assembly at the time the amendment enters into force, or which become members thereof at a subsequent date, provided that any amendment increasing the financial obligations of countries of the Special Union shall bind only those countries which have notified their acceptance of such amendment.

Article 13
Regulations; Revision

(1) The details for carrying out this Agreement are fixed in the Regulations.

(2) This Agreement may be revised by conferences held between the delegates of the countries of the Special Union.

Article 14
Ratification and Accession; Entry into Force;
Reference to Article 24 of Paris Convention (Territories); Accession to the Act of 1958

(1) Any country of the Special Union which has signed this Act may ratify it, and, if it has not signed it, may accede to it.

(2)

(3) Instruments of ratification and accession shall be deposited with the Director General.

(4) The provisions of Article 24 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property shall apply to this Agreement.

(5)

(6) Ratification or accession shall automatically entail acceptance of all the clauses and admission to all the advantages of this Act.

(7) After the entry into force of this Act, a country may accede to the original Act of October 31, 1958, of this Agreement only in conjunction with ratification of, or accession to, this Act.

Article 15
Duration of the Agreement; Denunciation

(1) This Agreement shall remain in force as long as five countries at least are party to it.

(2) Any country may denounce this Act by notification addressed to the Director General. Such denunciation shall constitute also denunciation of the original Act of October 31, 1958, of this Agreement and shall affect only the country making it, the Agreement remaining in full force and effect as regards the other countries of the Special Union.

(3) Denunciation shall take effect one year after the day on which the Director General has received the notification.

(4) The right of denunciation provided for by this Article shall not be exercised by any country before the expiration of five years from the date upon which it becomes a member of the Special Union.

Article 16
Applicable Acts

(1)

(2) Countries outside the Special Union which become party to this Act shall apply it to international registrations of appellations of origin effected at the International Bureau at the request of the Authority of any country of the Special Union not party to this Act, provided that such registrations satisfy, with respect to the said countries, the requirements of this Act. With regard to international registrations effected at the International Bureau at the request of the Authorities of the said countries outside the Special Union which become party to this Act, such countries recognize that the aforesaid country of the Special Union may demand compliance with the requirements of the original Act of October 31, 1958.

Article 17
Signature, Languages, Depository Functions

(1)

(2) This Act shall remain open for signature at Stockholm until January 13, 1968.

(3) The Director General shall transmit two copies, certified by the Government of Sweden, of the signed text of this Act to the Governments of all countries of the Special Union and, on request, to the Government of any other country.

(4) The Director General shall register this Act with the Secretariat of the United Nations.

(5) The Director General shall notify the Governments of all countries of the Special Union of signatures, deposits of instruments of ratification or accession, entry into force of any provisions of this Act, denunciations, and declarations pursuant to Article 14(2) (c) and (4).

Article 18
Transitional Provisions

(1) Until the first Director General assumes office, references in t his Act to the International Bureau of the Organization or to the Director General shall be construed as references to the Bureau of the Union established by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property or its Director, respectively.

(2) Countries of the Special Union not having ratified or acceded to this Act may, until five years after the entry into force of the Convention establishing the Organization, exercise, if they so desire, the rights provided for under Articles 9 to 12 of this Act as if they were bound by those Articles. Any country desiring to exercise such rights shall give written notification to that effect to the Director General; such notification shall be effective from the date of its receipt. Such countries shall be deemed to be members of the Assembly until the expiration of the said period.


1. Articles have been given titles to facilitate their identification. There are no titles in the signed French text. The title of Article 6 has been modified, compared to the previous edition.


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