APPELLATIONS OF ORIGIN AND GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS: THE SYSTEM OF REGISTRATION AND THEIR ROLE AS PROMOTERS OF MACEDONIAN PRODUCTS

It is very important for every country to encourage the production and placement of products produced with some quality due to their local specifics. This has not only economic but also legal significance. It is precisely because of this that there is a need for the proper protection of geographical names, and with this, also of potential consumers. This trend is followed by Macedonian Law on industry property and with Rulebook on the form, content, size and use of the signs and symbols "Protected Appellations of origin", "Protected geographical indication" and "Mark of guaranteed traditional specialty". According to the Law on Industry property of the Republic of North Macedonia Appellations of Origin (AOs) and Geographical Indications (GIs) are different industrial property rights. Although the number of protected Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications is not on the same level as Trademarks or Patents, their importance for the Macedonian economy cannot be dismissed or omitted. This is so because these rights indicate that a certain product should have certain characteristics and as such to be recognizable to consumers. This alone protects the geographical name from misuse, imitation or false declaration. The Rulebook for the protection of Appellations of Origin and Geographical indications was adopted by the Director of the State office of Industrial property in 2011. The legal regulation of Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications in Macedonian law is in accordance with EU law. In this way, the protection of these rights has been raised to a higher level. The improvement of international protection of geographical names in the Republic of North Macedonia has been fostered since 2010, when Republic of Macedonia signed the Lisbon Agreement for the protection of Appellations of Origin and their international registration. In context of this, in this paper the authors will analyze the notion of Geographical indicators - Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications in Macedonian legal framework, the procedure and benefits of protection of these industrial property rights. Also, according to the relevant institutional Reports the authors will make an analysis of the number of protected Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications, the nature of protected products and their further role as a promoter of Macedonian production of products that are typically for the Macedonian environment. During the analysis the authors will give brief review to some of the most used Macedonian products that are protected as a geographical name. A typical example of this are: macedonian ajvar, kochani rice, krivo palanecki honey, ohird’s pearls and many others. This should not be surprising because the Republic of North Macedonia is known for many products that are recognizable in specific places or areas. The authors analysis the method of analysis, abstraction, and generalization, as well as comparative analysis, will be used. The authors will give some recommendations for further improvement of the legislation and some measures on how to gain knowledge, to simplify and make the process more accessible to applicants which may be a natural or legal person, a group of producers and manufacturers of the same products.