전통식품의 지식재산권에 의한 보호방안 연구고찰

A Study on Protection Methods of Traditional Foods through Intellectual Property Right

This study relates to the protection of intellectual property (IP) rights on the Korean traditional foods. In order to protect the IP rights of Korean traditional foods, it is necessary to improve the food quality, and to transfer the rights of the traditional foods from current public domain into the official protection system, IP right. In this paper, we will study how to protect the IP rights of Korean traditional foods under the Patent Act, the Design Act, the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, the Copyright Act and the Trademark Act. In many countries, however, the IP rights of traditional foods are generally considered to lack novelty, inventive step and creativity. Accordingly, it is difficult to seek protection of IP rights of the traditional foods. In consideration of the foregoing, we aims to examine the ongoing discussions for protecting traditional knowledge under the IP law, and look for solutions how to protect the reputations acquired by the artisans of the Korean traditional foods or the goodwill of the traditional foods. More importantly, we will study on the collective marks of geographical indication under the Trademark Act and the geographical indication system under the Agricultural Products Quality Management Act.