An analysis of the dispute European Communities - Protection of trademarks and geographical indications for agricultural products and foodstuffs

The dispute "European Communities - Protection of trademarks and geographical indications for agricultural products and foodstuffs" that opposes the European - Union to the United States and Australia, has been raised by the European regulation concerning the protection of geographical indications. This dispute has two important issues. First, the Panel demonstrated that the European regulation did not comply with national treatment promulgated by the TRIPS and the GATT 1994 Agreements. Second, the Panel affirmed the possibility of coexistence between GIs and identical prior trademarks. This article considers these two issues and depicts the position of the parties at the end of the dispute regarding GIs' protection. The first part of this article presents the conclusion of the Panel concerning national treatment and the coexistence between GIs and prior trademark. An analysis of the relations between national treatment and the international harmonization of the rules on the protection of geographical indications is presented in the second part. This analysis permits to establish that if the Panel findings do not annihilate the European system of protection of the geographical indications, the United States will find advantageous to free ride in geographical indications, refusing to move toward the European system of protection.Geographical indications, Intellectual property, National treatment, TRIPS, Dispute settlement., International Relations/Trade, Marketing, F13, Q17, Q18,

Agro Food’s Quality Signs and Free Movement of Goods. What Strategies for the European Operators?

Several recent cases judged by the Court of Justice of the European Communities have raised interesting issues on the possibility for operators of food chains to use national quality signs indicating a territory of origin, different from the European regulatory ones (Protected Geographical Indications). These various attempts from France, Germany and Belgium were all condemned as protectionist policies contradicting the free movement of goods between Member States in the European Market. However, the condemned national policies can be seen as defending the viability of specific kinds of activities (of small enterprises) in specific places (rural areas). These cases as a consequence, form a good illustration of the difficulty that a government faces while trying to make compatible the protection of certain traditional activities with free markets. Exploring this idea, the presentation of the court rulings is developed in the first section. In the second section, the economic theoretical categories these cases raised are investigated. This helps to answer to the question of the best way to ensure market niches through products’ quality in the context analysed. Collective trademark as a form of intellectual property right is in particular highlighted. The third section considers the Court decisions on this basis.Free Movement of Goods, Geographical Indications, Collective Trademarks, Agribusiness,

A review on microalgae and cyanobacteria in biofuel production

Today, fossil fuel shortages and climate change impacts have led mankind to the search for an alternative energy. With many advantages, bioenergy is a promising source to replace conventional energy. However, biofuel productions in the first and second generation are likely to add more concerns to the problems in water scarcity and threats to food security. Meanwhile, third generation biofuels obtained from microalgae and cyanobacteria are able to overcome existing challenges thanks to their rapid growth rates, abilities to fix CO 2 , high yields in lipid extraction and capabilities to be grown in non-arable lands. Microalgae and cyanobacteria appear to be the only ones among renewable sources that are capable of producing a wide range of biofuels including biohydrogen, biomethane, bioethanol and biodiesel.In this study, we present an overview about microalgae and cyanobacteria use for the production of biofuels in fundamentals, including their biology, cultivation systems taking into account the hydrodynamic conditions, harvesting, and processing. The review also provides a general picture at the current status of this renewable energy industry