지리적 표시 리스트 방식의 보호에 관한 소고

Geographic Indications are one of the most strongly protected intellectual property (IP) of the EU, which is represented by the Old Continent. Accordingly, the EU emphasizes the protection of GI in signing international treaties as well as many Free Trade Agreements. Therefore, the EU demanded strong protection of GI not only Korea but also Central America, Japan, and Mexico, which have recently signed FTA with the EU. Along with the strong protection of geographical indications, Korea has come up with an institutional system that can add list of GI after the Korea-EU FTA entered into force. However, GI protected by the list through the FTA are stipulated to provide a high level of protection through the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act as well as the Trademark Act. As a result, it is expected that GI will be protected by unifying the regulations under the Agricultural and Fishery Products Quality Control Act rather than protected under the current Unfair Competition Prevention Act. In addition, in the procedure for appealing to GI, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy should have an enforcement decree or an enforcement rule that can specify the provisions of a legal level rather than a preliminary rule. Thus, it is expected that the user of the preceding trademark or a person who wants to use the trademark or GI will be able to avoid the disadvantage of protecting the GI under the FTA. It is true that Korea lacks GI that require protection compared to advanced countries in the field of ​​GI. On the other hand, the EU is expanding its protection through international treaties and FTAs ​​to further protect its GI. The EU is expected to demand the addition of GI, and it seems necessary to improve the domestic legal system in response.