Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their Internat

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 and Opposition to Refusal; Notifications; Use Tolerated for a Fixed Period]
Article 6 [Generic Appellations]
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 name of a country, region, or locality, which serves to designate a product originating therein, the quality and 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 and Opposition to Refusal; Notifications; Use Tolerated for a Fixed Period]
 

(1) The registration of appellations of origin shall be effected at the International Bureau, at the request of the Offices 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, a right to use such appellations.

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

(3) The Office 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 Offices of the countries of the Union after the expiration of the period of one year provided for in the foregoing paragraph.