On June 2, 2022, the Czech Republic deposited its instrument of accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement with the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva (WIPO). The deposit took place in the presence of the Director-General of WIPO, Mr Daren Tang, the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the United Nations Office and other international organisations in Geneva, Václav Bálek, and the President of the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic, Josef Kratochvíl.

The protection of designations of origin and geographical indications has a long tradition in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic was one of the signatories (signatory countries) to the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration of 1958 and actively participated in the negotiations of the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on Appellations of Origin and Geographical Indications in 2015, which revised the Lisbon Agreement. To date, 75 appellations of origin have been registered in the Czech Republic under the Lisbon system.

Accession to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement will ensure Czech entrepreneurs the continuation of international protection of their products, promote the quality of their products in the world, strengthen competition and consumer protection.

One of the goals of government policy in the area of the 2019-2030 Innovation Strategy of the Czech Republic is to raise awareness of intellectual property protection in the production and application sectors and to increase the use of intellectual property protection, especially by small and medium enterprises. Just in these sectors, there are a number of issues, concerning a dispute resolution and related to the protection of know-how and trade secrets. Nevertheless, in the Czech Republic, the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) tools, especially mediation, are insufficiently used. Therefore, the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic (IPO CZ) actively seeks the way, how to integrate the methods of alternative dispute resolution into the processes regarding the intellectual (especially industrial) property protection within the proceedings before the Industrial Property Office and subsequent proceedings.

Thanks to the cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), IPO CZ has the opportunity to exploit their knowledge support and provide specialized mediators in the Czech Republic with expert platform.

As a first step, the Memorandum of Understanding between the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic concerning alternative dispute resolution in the area of intellectual property was signed in November 2020.

IPO CZ will support the provision of ADR services at the national level, raise awareness of ADR services among users of the IP protection system and strengthen cooperation with other partners at the international, regional and national level.

The aim is to help to settle highly technical disagreements and disputes in the field of intellectual property arising in relation to the creation, application and evaluation of intellectual property subject matters, in particular in cases of inventions, industrial designs, utility models, rationalization proposals, production and operational knowledge (know-how), unfair competition, trademarks, designations of origin, computer programs and other subject matters protected by copyright and related rights.

Arbitration and Mediation Center WIPO (WIPO Center)

The WIPO Center is a neutral, international and non-profit service provider of dispute resolution specializing in trade disputes relating to IP and technologies.

The WIPO Center actively assists the parties to submit disputes in accordance with WIPO ADR procedures; assists in selection of a specialized mediator, arbitrator or expert from the WIPO Center database or otherwise and in setting the fees of a neutral entity; and administers the communication and finance of the case.

WIPO offers free of charge to interested parties a number of possibilities of online case management including online docket and online tools for meetings and hearings in order to assist in the time- and cost-efficient administration of procedures under its rules. WIPO Center also makes available the WIPO checklist for online conduct of mediation and arbitration proceedings.

Links

• Resolving IP and Technology Disputes Through WIPO ADR

• About the WIPO Center

• IP ADR Advantages

• WIPO ADR Options

• WIPO Model ADR Clauses

• WIPO Online Case Administration Tools

• WIPO Checklist for the Online Conduct of Mediation and Arbitration Proceedings

Contact

Arbitration and Mediation Center Geneva
34, chemin des Colombettes
P.O Box 18
1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
T +41 338 8247 or 0800 888 549
F +4122 740 3700 or 0800 888 550
General queries: arbiter.mail@wipo.int