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According to the provisions of the trips (agreement on trade-restated aspects of international property rights) agreement, all Member States shall provide legal means to protect geographical indications. Paragraph 1 of Article 22, section 3 of trips specifically defines geographical indications. The geographical indications referred to in this Agreement are the signs that identify a commodity originating in the territory of a member or in a certain region or region within the territory of a member, and the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of the commodity can basically be attributed to its geographical origin. The relevant laws and regulations of China further explain the meaning of geographical indications. According to Article 2 of the provisions on the protection of geographical indication products, the geographical indication products mentioned in these Provisions refer to the products that are produced in a specific region and whose quality, reputation or other characteristics depend essentially on the natural and human factors of the origin, and are named by geographical names after examination and approval. According to the second paragraph of Article 16 of the Trademark Law of the people's Republic of China, the term "geographical indication" as mentioned in the preceding paragraph refers to a mark indicating that a commodity comes from a certain region, and that the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of the commodity are mainly determined by the natural or human factors of the region.

Therefore, geographical indication is a kind of sign, whose main function is to indicate that a certain commodity with specific quality, reputation or other characteristics comes from a certain place, and the specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of the commodity are mainly determined by the natural or human factors of the region.

According to the second paragraph of Article 3 of the Trademark Law of the people's Republic of China, the term "collective trademark" as used in this Law refers to a sign registered in the name of a group, association or other organization for use by members of the organization in their commercial activities to indicate the user's membership in the organization.

According to paragraph 3 of Article 3 of the Trademark Law of the people's Republic of China, a certification trademark as mentioned in this Law refers to a mark that is controlled by an organization capable of supervising a certain commodity or service and used by an entity or individual other than the organization for its commodities or services to prove the origin, raw materials, manufacturing method, quality or other specific quality of the commodity or service.

Before analyzing the relationship between geographical indications and collective trademarks and certification trademarks, it is necessary to briefly introduce several main modes of protection of geographical indications at present. At present, the protection of geographical indications in various countries mainly has the following modes: 1 Protect geographical indications through anti unfair competition law; 2. special legislative protection of geographical indications; 3. protect geographical indications through trademark law, for example, register geographical indications as collective trademarks or certification trademarks; 4. the mixed protection mode not only carries out special legislative protection for geographical indications, but also protects geographical indications by registering them as collective trademarks or certification trademarks through the trademark law.

The protection of geographical indications in China includes the special legislative protection of geographical indications, such as the provisions on the protection of geographical indication products and the measures for the administration of geographical indications of agricultural products, as well as the protection through registration as a collective trademark or certification trademark. For example, Article 10 of the Trademark Law of the people's Republic of China stipulates that geographical names in administrative divisions above the county level or foreign geographical names known to the public shall not be used as trademarks. However, place names with other meanings or as part of collective trademarks or certification trademarks are excluded. Paragraph 1 of Article 4 of the regulations for the implementation of the Trademark Law of the people's Republic of China stipulates that geographical indications specified in Article 16 of the trademark law may be applied for registration as certification trademarks or collective trademarks in accordance with the provisions of the trademark law and these regulations.

Therefore, in terms of the relationship between geographical indications and collective trademarks and certification trademarks, collective trademarks and certification trademarks are actually a way to protect geographical indications. If a geographical indication is registered as a collective trademark or certification trademark, the geographical indication can be protected by the trademark law through the collective trademark or certification trademark. It should be noted that collective trademarks or certification trademarks containing geographical indications are only one type of collective trademarks or certification trademarks, not all of them.

(1) Collective trademarks can only be used by collective members, but not by non collective members. Moreover, according to paragraph 2 of Article 17 of the measures for the registration and administration of collective trademarks and certification trademarks, collective trademarks shall not be permitted to be used by non collective members. It is actually illegal to license a collective trademark to non collective members by signing a license agreement. As for the certification trademark, any person who meets the management rules for the use of certification trademark can apply for use. For example, according to the investigation, the "Xiaoyao town" trademark is actually an ordinary trademark, not a collective trademark of geographical indications. Even if it is a collective trademark of geographical indications, it cannot be licensed to non collective members outside Xiaoyao town by joining in.

(2) Collective trademarks are mainly controlled and managed by groups, associations or other organizations as registrants of collective trademarks. A certification trademark is generally controlled by an organization that has the ability to supervise certain goods or services, and is used by people or units outside the organization. The registrant or owner of the certification trademark is more like an independent third-party quality control organization, which does not use the certification trademark, but supervises and controls the quality of the certification trademark.

(3) The registrant or owner of a collective trademark may use the collective trademark himself. The registrant or owner of the certification trademark cannot use the certification trademark by himself.

(1) The specific quality, reputation or other characteristics of a commodity marked by a geographical indication must be related to the place of origin of the commodity. However, the unique characteristics of commodities using collective trademarks or certification trademarks are not necessarily related to the origin of the commodities.

(2) Geographical indications are public resources formed mainly by natural or human factors. Therefore, the registration applicant of geographical indications is generally designated or selected by the government. Article 8 of the provisions on the protection of geographical indication products stipulates that the application for the protection of geographical indication products shall be submitted by the application institution for the protection of geographical indication products designated by the local people's government at or above the county level or the associations and enterprises recognized by the people's government, and the opinions of relevant departments shall be solicited. Article 8 of the measures for the administration of geographical indications of agricultural products stipulates that the applicants for the registration of geographical indications of agricultural products are farmers' professional cooperative economic organizations, trade associations and other organizations selected by the local people's governments at or above the county level according to the following conditions. Where a geographical indication is registered as a collective trademark or certification trademark, it is also necessary to submit the documents approved by the people's government at or above the county level or the competent department of the industry in the area indicated by the geographical indication. The registrant of a general collective trademark or certification trademark is generally a group, association or other organization, which can independently apply for a general collective trademark or certification trademark.

(3) The use of geographical indications is generally free. For example, Article 15 of the measures for the administration of geographical indications of agricultural products stipulates that the holder of the registration certificate of geographical indications of agricultural products shall not collect royalties from the user of geographical indications of agricultural products. The use of collective trademarks, especially certification trademarks, may require paid licenses or membership fees.

It is precisely because of the public resource attribute of the above geographical indications that when geographical indications are registered as collective trademarks or certification trademarks, their use will be different from that of general collective trademarks or certification trademarks, and the legal restrictions may be more. These restrictions are mainly:

1. a geographical indication is registered as a collective trademark. A natural person, legal person or other organization whose goods meet the conditions for using the geographical indication may request to participate in a group, association or other organization that registers the geographical indication as a collective trademark, and the group, association or other organization shall be admitted as a member in accordance with its articles of Association; If the natural person, legal person or other organization is unwilling to participate in a group, association or other organization that registers the geographical indication as a collective trademark and is unwilling to become a member, it may also use the geographical indication properly, and the group, association or other organization has no right to prohibit it. The "normal use of the geographical indication" here mainly refers to the proper use of the place names in the geographical indication.

For example, the collective trademark of "Tongguan rougamo" geographical indication registered by Tongguan rougamo Association, as long as the rougamo produced in Tongguan area meets the conditions for using the geographical indication, even if it is not a member of the collective trademark of "Tongguan rougamo", the place name "Tongguan" can be used normally. Since "roujiamo" is a description of the main raw materials or characteristics of the commodity, according to the provisions of Article 59 of the Trademark Law of the people's Republic of China, the exclusive right holder of the registered trademark has no right to prohibit others from properly using the general name, graphics and model of the commodity contained in the registered trademark, or the quality, main raw materials, functions, uses, weight, quantity and other characteristics of the commodity directly expressed in the registered trademark, or the place name contained in the registered trademark, Others also have the right to use the expression "rougamo". Therefore, those who make rougamo in Tongguan area, even if they are not collective members of the collective trademark of "Tongguan rougamo" geographical indication, have the right to use "Tongguan rougamo" properly.

2. a geographical indication is registered as a certification trademark. A natural person, legal person or other organization whose goods meet the conditions for using the geographical indication may require the use of the certification trademark, and the organization controlling the certification trademark shall allow it. For example, the "Jingdezhen" geographical indication certification trademark registered by Jingdezhen Ceramic Association. Those who make ceramics in Jingdezhen, as long as they meet the conditions for using the geographical indication "Jingdezhen", also have the right to use "Jingdezhen" properly.