According to the Trademark Office of State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), up to December 31, 2009, 771 applications for registrations of geographical indications (GI) were already filed and examined in China.
Geographical Indication is an indication showing that certain commodity is from certain region, and the given quality, reputation or other characteristics of the commodity are mainly determined by the natural factors or human factors of the region. GI products have the characteristic of non-replacement, and similar products produced outside the area will not have these characteristics.
In order to better serve the farmers, SAIC established a "green channel" for GI applications and shortened the pending period. This has resulted in the increase the GI registrations.
According to the statistics from the Trademark Office of SAIC, the GI registrations in the last 2 years were 470, 1.56 times as much as that registered in the previous 14 years.
