Measures for the protection of foreign geographical indication products

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 in order to effectively protect foreign geographical indication products sold in China and regulate the use of foreign geographical indication product names and special signs in China, these measures are formulated in accordance with Article 26 of the provisions on the protection of geographical indication products.

Article 2 the term "foreign geographical indication products" as mentioned in these Measures refers to products produced outside China, registered and protected by the country or region of origin and in line with the provisions of Article 2 of the provisions on the protection of geographical indication products.

Article 3 in accordance with these measures, foreign geographical indication products applying for protection in China shall be handled in accordance with the agreements signed between their countries and the people's Republic of China or the international treaties to which they are parties, or in accordance with the principle of reciprocity.

Article 4 these Measures shall apply to the application, acceptance, examination, approval, use, supervision and administration, change and cancellation of foreign geographical indication products protected in China (hereinafter referred to as "protected in China").

Article 5 the protected names of foreign geographical indication products in China include Chinese names and original names.

（1） The Chinese name is composed of the name with geographical indication function and the general name reflecting the real attributes of the product, which can also be a "conventional" name;

（2） The original name refers to the name that has obtained the registration protection of geographical indications in the country or region of origin;

（3） The above names do not belong to common names in China and do not conflict with other prior rights such as geographical indication product names in China.

Article 6 the State Intellectual Property Office of China (hereinafter referred to as the "State Intellectual Property Office") shall uniformly manage the protection of foreign geographical indication products in China. Intellectual property management departments at all levels shall protect foreign geographical indication products according to their functions.

Chapter II Application and acceptance

Article 7 for the protection of foreign geographical indication products in China, the original applicant for the protection of geographical indications in the country or region where the product is located shall apply to the State Intellectual Property Office after being recommended by the competent department of geographical indications in the country or region of origin.

Article 8 the applicant for the protection of foreign geographical indication products in China may designate its institution in China as the contact person for the protection work in China, or negotiate with the staff of the official representative office of the country or region of origin in China as the contact person for the protection work in China, or designate an agent.

Article 9 the application for protection of foreign geographical indication products in China shall provide the following written materials in Chinese:

（1） Application for protection of foreign geographical indication products in China;

（2） The name, address and contact number of the applicant, and the contact person, address and contact number in China;

（3） The original of the official certification document approved for the protection of geographical indications in the country or region of origin and its notarized Chinese translation;

（4） The scope of origin and its notarized Chinese translation issued by the competent authority of geographical indications in the country or region of origin;

（5） Quality and technical requirements of the product;

（6） Test report: the test report issued by the country or region of origin to prove the sensory characteristics and physical and chemical indexes of the applied product and its notarized Chinese translation;

（7） Other supporting documents, etc.

Article 10 the quality and technical requirements of foreign geographical indication products protected in China include:

（1） Chinese name and original name of the product;

（2） Scope of origin protected;

（3） Product attributes and production process;

（4） Quality characteristics, including sensory characteristics and physical and chemical indexes of products;

（5） Popularity, popularity and trade sales of products in the country of origin (region), China and other countries and regions in the world;

（6） Relevance, description of the relevance between product quality characteristics and natural or human factors of origin, etc.

Article 11 after receiving the application materials, the State Intellectual Property Office shall organize the formal examination of the application materials within 30 working days. The conclusion of formal examination can be divided into three types: acceptance, correction and rejection.

（1） If it is accepted, the State Intellectual Property Office shall issue a bulletin and publicize it to the public on its official website;

（2） If it needs to be corrected, the State Intellectual Property Office shall feed back the correction opinions to the applicant in writing. After the applicant submits the correction materials to the State Intellectual Property Office, the State Intellectual Property Office shall reorganize the form of examination;

（3） In case of rejection, the State Intellectual Property Office shall issue a written notice of rejection to the applicant.

Article 12 the objection period for accepting the announcement is 60 days, calculated from the date of acceptance announced by the State Intellectual Property Office. During the objection period, any organization or individual at home and abroad can raise an objection to the State Intellectual Property Office in writing.

Article 13 the contents of the objection include: the name of the objector, the name of the unit, the contact information, the reasons for the objection and the evidence materials, etc. The objection shall be written in Chinese, and the signature or seal shall be valid.

Article 14 after receiving the objection, the State Intellectual Property Office shall timely feed back the objection to the applicant. The objection shall be settled by both parties through negotiation; Or the State Intellectual Property Office shall organize both parties to resolve the objection through negotiation; If the consultation is irregular, the State Intellectual Property Office shall organize the Committee of geographical indications experts to make a ruling after deliberation.

Article 15 the State Intellectual Property Office shall not accept the objection application under the following circumstances, and shall notify the objection applicant in writing and explain the reasons:

（1） Failing to submit within the statutory time limit;

（2） Without clear objection reasons, facts and legal basis.

Article 16 for the rejected objection application, the State Intellectual Property Office shall notify the objection applicant in writing. If they are not satisfied with the ruling of objection, they may apply to the State Intellectual Property Office for reexamination within 30 days from the date of receiving the notice. The State Intellectual Property Office shall make a decision within 60 days from the date of receiving the application and notify both parties in writing. The reexamination decision shall be final.

Chapter III technical review and approval

Article 17 If there is no objection at the expiration of the acceptance announcement, or the objection is agreed upon through consultation, or the objection is ruled not tenable, the State Intellectual Property Office shall organize experts to conduct technical examination.

Article 18 technical examination includes meeting examination and necessary origin verification, and the applicant shall cooperate. The technical review expert group is composed of 5 or 7 persons.

Article 19 during the technical examination, the applicant shall invite professional technicians and translators familiar with the product to participate. The time and place of the technical examination shall be agreed by both parties.

Article 20 the conclusion of technical examination can be divided into three types: pass, need rectification and fail.

（1） If it passes the examination, the State Intellectual Property Office shall issue an announcement of approval for the protection of foreign geographical indication products in China and protect them according to law;

（2） If rectification is needed, the State Intellectual Property Office shall feed back the rectification opinions to the applicant in writing. After the applicant submits the rectification materials to the State Intellectual Property Office, the State Intellectual Property Office shall organize technical review or technical confirmation again;

（3） If it fails to pass the technical examination, the State Intellectual Property Office shall issue a written notice to the applicant.

Chapter IV Special signs and supervision and Administration

Article 21 the name of the product in China shall be consistent with the information of the National Intellectual Property Protection Bureau, such as the name of the product in China.

Article 22 producers, associations and other associations within the origin of foreign geographical indication products protected in China may apply to the State Intellectual Property Office for the use of the special geographical indication signs of the people's Republic of China.

Article 23 the use of special signs shall be subject to the self declaration system. Once the names of products protected in China and the special signs for geographical indications of the people's Republic of China are used, they shall be deemed to have self declared that the products meet the requirements of the approval announcement of foreign geographical indication products of the State Intellectual Property Office.

Article 24 the special geographical indications of the people's Republic of China shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant requirements of the State Intellectual Property Office.

Article 25 applicants for foreign geographical indication products protected in China shall publish to the public in Chinese the geographical indication laws, regulations and technical standards implemented by their products.

Article 26 applicants for foreign geographical indication products protected in China must perform corresponding management responsibilities, formulate management measures, and manage their names, quality characteristics, use of special signs, etc.

Article 27 the annual report system shall be implemented for foreign geographical indication products protected in China. Before the end of March every year, the applicant must report the management measures of the current year and the implementation report of the previous year to the State Intellectual Property Office.

Article 28 when a foreign geographical indication product that has been protected in China has a significant negative impact in China, if the State Intellectual Property Office deems it necessary, it may organize further on-site verification of its quality characteristics and origin conditions, and the applicant shall cooperate.

Article 29 The State Intellectual Property Office shall publish the protection information of foreign geographical indication products in China through the official website and accept social supervision.

Chapter V protection, alteration and cancellation

Article 30 foreign geographical indication products protected in China enjoy the same protection as Chinese geographical indication products.

Article 31 the intellectual property administrative departments at all levels shall accept the reports and complaints of infringement of the legitimate rights and interests of foreign geographical indication products protected in China, and the relevant departments shall investigate and deal with the illegal acts according to law; The applicant of foreign geographical indication products protected in China may also bring a lawsuit to the people's court.

Article 32 in case of any change in the scope of origin, quality and technical requirements, names and addresses of producers, associations or associations within the scope of origin and other major information of foreign geographical indication products protected in China, the applicant for foreign geographical indication products shall submit an application for change to the State Intellectual Property Office within 90 days. After passing the technical examination, the State Intellectual Property Office shall issue an announcement to make changes.

Article 33 The State Intellectual Property Office may revoke foreign geographical indication products protected in China under the following circumstances:; Any unit or individual may request the State Intellectual Property Office to revoke it and provide relevant evidence materials:

（1） The protection of geographical indication products is revoked in the country or region of origin;

（2） Belonging to or evolving into a common name within the territory of China;

（3） There are serious violations of relevant laws and regulations of China.

Article 34 The State Intellectual Property Office shall not accept the cancellation request under the following circumstances, and shall notify the applicant in writing and explain the reasons:

（1） There are no clear reasons and facts for cancellation;

（2） Only the product name becomes a common name abroad.

Article 35 The State Intellectual Property Office shall organize a committee of experts on geographical indications to deliberate on the request for cancellation and make a ruling. If the ruling is revoked, the State Intellectual Property Office shall issue an announcement; If the ruling is not revoked, the claimant and the obligee shall be notified.

Chapter VI supplementary provisions

Article 36 these Measures shall come into force as of the date of promulgation.

Article 37 the protected products of foreign geographical indications protected in China shall also comply with the relevant provisions of China's entry-exit inspection and quarantine.

Article 38 The State Intellectual Property Office shall be responsible for the interpretation of these measures.