Protection of geographical indications (GIs) has attracted increasing attention from the governments of various countries, and GIs have become one of the key issues that led to the creation of an important component of bilateral and multilateral international trade agreements. According to the 1994 Agreement On Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement), GIs are defined as "indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin."
