Abstract:
In the era of knowledge based economy, the protection of industrial property rights plays an
important role under the intellectual property law agenda. Among them, geographical
indications (GIs) have been subjected to vigorous scholarly debate across the world in last two
decades. GI as a distinctive sign, permits the identification of products on the market and
protects the quality, reputation or other character of goods essentially attributable to their
geographical origin. As a developing country Sri Lanka has varieties of natural resources with
great economic value. Geographical Indications like Ceylon Tea, Ceylon Cinnamon, Ceylon
sapphires are some of the major earners of foreign exchange in the country. Despite this GIs
receive less attention when compared with other intellectual property rights. This has become
a major issue in the development of law relating to GIs.
Therefore, this paper discusses the problem of protecting products of geographical origin by
exploring the laws available in Sri Lanka in terms of both domestic and international
obligations. The present study expects to explore a domestic registration system of
Geographical Indications as an option. It also expects to propose ways for strengthening the
legal framework of the country in order to accord better protection for GI in Sri Lanka. This is
a qualitative research based on literature review and mainly carried out by the reference of
primary and secondary data such as statutes, International treaties, academic writings, journal
articles and e-sources. The comparative analysis of successful legal position in selected
jurisdictions such as, India have been followed in reaching the conclusion.
