Project title: Geographical Indications: a spurring or hampering device for innovation in agribusiness?

Researcher: Maurizio Crupi

Maurizio Crupi worked as legal assistant at the Boards of Appeal of the EUIPO, where he drafted decisions on trademarks and designs matters. He also gained professional experience in international law firms specialized in European trademarks and pharmaceutical patents.

Maurizio holds a master degree from Magister Lvcentinvs (University of Alicante), with a dissertation on digital single market and free flow of data, as well as a law degree from Bocconi University (Milan), with a dissertation on patent arbitration. His research interests lie in Geographical Indications, Data Protection and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Publications: Maurizio Crupi, ‘Dispute Resolution Boards’, in Théophile Margellos and others (eds), Mediation: Creating Value in International Intellectual Property Disputes (Wolters Kluwer 2018).

Email: maurizio.crupi@ua.es

Host Institution: University of Alicante; Degree Partner: Maastricht University

Objectives:

To assess the nature and purpose of the GI system, in particular the methods of production of GI-intensive products, in light of fostering innovation in business and marketing processes; to identify its interconnections with (traditional) knowledge.

“Protected Geographical Indications” are Intellectual Property rights that help protect and promote products with particular characteristics linked to their geographical origin and their quality. Those Intellectual Property Rights are currently undergoing significant changes because of the modifications of all the European Union regulations related to Protected Geographical Indications and Protected Designation of Origin, the Review of the Lisbon System at the international level, and also because of the influence of other different systems of protection outside Europe. These facts demonstrate the importance to assess the nature and purpose of the Geographical Indication system, in particular the methods of production, in order to highlight the differences between all the Intellectual Property Rights addresses to protect the quality of the products. In this study it’s important to focus on the advantages of this intellectual property rights for producers, in order to analyse if this is an appropriate system to protect “traditional knowledge” and encourage innovation in the elaboration process of the products. The proposal to extend this system to other types of products can represent a big step in this research purpose. The in depth study of the Geographical Indication system and the contrast between other certification systems can be very useful in order to appreciate the differences between each Intellectual Property Right system and analyse the possibility to make recommendations for reform of the GIs system in order to try to increase the innovative function.

Expected Results:

Present new ideas on GIs transcending the mere ‘trade mark’ nature and functioning more as a ‘patent’ vehicle (fostering investment in competitive communities); recommendations for reform of the system of GIs in order to increase its incentive function.

Planned secondment(s): oriGIn

Supervisors:

Co-supervisor: