{"id":8485,"date":"2019-01-02T11:09:38","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T11:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sib.it\/?p=8485"},"modified":"2019-01-03T15:45:30","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T15:45:30","slug":"accordo-commerciale-ue-giappone-vigore-dal-1-febbraio-2019-riconoscimento-igp-dop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sib.it\/en\/flash-news\/eu-japan-trade-agreement-in-force-meaning-for-intellectual-property\/","title":{"rendered":"EU-Japan trade agreement in force from 1 February 2019: what it means for intellectual property"},"content":{"rendered":"

The EU-Japan trade agreement is set to come into force on 1 February 2019 bringing, inter alia, enhanced protection for intellectual property rights in Japan including the automatic recognition of EU GIs and PDOs.<\/em><\/p>\n

On 12 December 2018 the European Parliament voted its final approval of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (\u201cthe trade agreement\u201d in the following). The trade agreement has now been ratified by both parties\u2019 parliaments, and is set to enter into force on 1 February 2019.<\/p>\n

\"Giappone

Maneki-neko, the cat with a raised paw beckoning buyers, welcomes the finalisation of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The trade agreement creates an open trading zone covering 635 million people and almost a third of the world\u2019s total GDP.<\/p>\n

The Intellectual Property Rights chapter<\/a> of the EU-Japan trade agreement builds on TRIPs provisions and is based on European Union standards for protection and enforcement.<\/p>\n

Protection in Japan will improve in particular for copyrights and trade secrets. The trade agreement also includes specific provisions on the duration of pharmaceutical patents<\/strong> as well as on the protection of trademarks<\/strong>. Product appearance<\/strong> will be protected under unregistered design or unfair competition rules.<\/p>\n

High standard civil enforcement rules<\/strong> are introduced, as well as rules on border measures<\/strong> concerning imports, exports and transit.<\/p>\n

Notably, the trade agreement provides for the automatic protection in Japan of over 200 European Geographical Indications (GIs) and Protected denominations of origin (PDOs) for agricultural products<\/strong> (see list here<\/a>) and for wine, spirits and other alcoholic beverages<\/strong> (see list here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The list is open to future additions.<\/p>\n

Under the agreement, protection for GIs and PDOs extends to conflicts with later trademarks. The Japanese Intellectual Property Office will refuse trademark applications conflicting with GIs and PDOs registered in the EU and recognised in Japan under the EU-Japan trade agreement.<\/p>\n

Co-existence rules are provided for trademarks filed in Japan before the entry into force of the new agreement.<\/p>\n

The finalisation of the EU-Japan trade agreement means that European GIs and PDOs will soon be protected by bilateral agreements in the three major markets of the Far East<\/strong>: in June 2017 an agreement with China <\/a>was reached for recognition of 100 European GIs and PDOs, while a similar deal with South Korea has been in force since 2012.<\/p>\n

Key aspects of the EU-Japan trade agreement other than those concerning intellectual property<\/strong> include:<\/p>\n