Some Terminological Issues on International Legal Regulation of the Means of Individualization

The article deals with the problems of international legal protection of means of individualization, among which are the trademarks, service marks, trade names, indications of origin, name of origin, geographical indications, business names, as objects of individualizing goods, services, legal persons or companies. The author notes that only Stockholm Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, 1967, Art. 2 classifies some of the abovementioned items (namely, trademarks, service marks, trade names and business names) as intellectual property, drawing attention to the terminological discrepancy of several international treaties applicable to this sphere of legal relations. Special attention is given to the problems of the relation of names of origin and geographical indications as objects of international legal protection. The author concludes that the developers of the Geneva Act (2015) of the Lisbon Treaty are likely to choose the path of least resistance, dividing these concepts and separating geographical indications as an object of protection in addition to names of origin in order to consolidate the existing international protection regimes of both names of origin and geographical indications.

means of individualization, mercantile establishments of industrial property, manufacturing and retail facilities, trademark, service mark, name of origin, geographical indication, unification, Paris Convention, Stockholm Convention, TRIPs, Lisbon Treaty, Geneva Act

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