Protection of geographical indications: The legal framework in European Union and practice in Turkey

This thesis addresses the legal protection of geographical indications in international conventions, European Union Law and Turkish Law.When we consider the annual 3 billion Dolar amount of trade of geographical indication products in the world the importance of the protection of geographical indications can be understood.Countries have different attitudes towards the protection of geographical indications depending to a large degree on their economic interests. The European Union supports the protection of geographical indications where as countries with less strong cultural traditions in the agricultural sector are sceptical to the concept of geographical indications like The United States.A great deal of controversy surrounds geographical indications. Although the TRIPs Agreement has solved some issues by defining the concept and trying to establish some common standards, there is much to do.The aim of the thesis is to attract attention to this hotly debated topic and to compare the Turkish law and European Union Law about geographical indications to determine the negatif and positif aspects of Turkish legislation about geographical indications and to provide suggestions about the defects of Turkish practice and legislation about geographical indications.Key Words: Geographical Indications, Indication of Source, Designation of Origin, Trademark Law, European Union Law, World Trade Organization.