46. The representative of Korea said that the establishment of a registry system should be in line with the mandate and consistent with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. Above all, the multilateral register should not impose a heavy burden on developing countries, including Korea. In that context Korea considered some elements of the TN/C/W/52 proposal, such as mandatory participation and the legal effects of registration as unduly burdensome for developing countries. Nevertheless, his delegation was open to discuss those issues with the proponents to explore possible solutions. The best way to achieve a convergence in these negotiations was to delve into details. An analytical discussion on the existing positions would not be conducive since the position of each Member was already well known. In that context, his delegation considered that the sub-questions, as proposed by the Chair, on various technical issues could be extremely useful and would highlight the benefits and shortcomings of each proposal.
47. In response to the Chairman's sub-questions, he said that his delegation would do its utmost to provide some preliminary answers. On the first sub-question regarding the sources of information that national agencies were currently legally obliged to take into account for the protection of geographical indications and trademarks he said that Korea's system for the protection of geographical indications was divided into two sub-systems: geographical indications for industrial goods were protected under the relevant trademark rules of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, while agricultural geographical indications were protected under the GI protection system of the Ministry of Agriculture.
48. The relevant rules for the protection of geographical indications of the Korean Intellectual Property Office did not specify any specific sources of information for reference and the relevant national authorities were therefore not legally obliged to take into account any specific sources of information. However, information available from existing databases, the Internet and articles of international literature would be fully taken into account by the competent officers of the Korean Intellectual Property Office.
49. Regarding the question of sanctions for failure to take into account a valuable source of information, he said that the applicant would always have the right to bring a case before the Korean court, which was the case under the Korean intellectual property system, once the registration process was fully completed. With respect to new additional sources of information he said that these would automatically be covered by such a legal obligation and that the Korean competent officers would take into account any new sources of information, provided certain criteria were met.
