Intangible assets are assets
When you hear of the terms AOC, DOC, DOCG, what comes to mind? French and Italian wines, cheese, and other produce that are priced at a premium.
When you use the word “champagne” for any sparkling wine, be careful. “Champagne” can only be used for sparkling wines from the Champagne region, and which are made using the “method champenoise,” a special technique implemented in this region of France for many centuries now. This name is also protected by a Geographical Indication (GI) and is legally protected in the European Union and many other countries. Because of this GI and Intellectual Property (IP) registration, all other sparkling wines are not “champagne” but are called other names: Prosecco in Italy, Cava in Spain, and sparkling wine in other places. Now, that is protection for champagne! And this is why champagne, besides its meticulous method of production, is priced at a premium and keeps its value compared to other “bubblies.”
How about Kampot pepper from Cambodia? And Guimaras mangoes from Guimaras island in the Philippines? These products start out with having collective marks and then graduate to become GI assets, protecting the producers and the community in the region where they are produced. Thanks to the World Intellectual Property Organization or WIPO (www.wipo.int), these IPs are protected so creators, innovators, and communities can use them for economic and sustainable growth.
How is this used as a tourist draw to benefit a community? Tourists often want to see the place where the cheese is produced, where the balsamic vinegar is processed, and how you can make special pepper that sells for more than five times the price of its general commodity cousin. GI and other IP registrations provide more income to the producers, either by the export of the products or by drawing in tourists to its very origin, the place where the agricultural product is produced. We can name many examples, like Ha Giang tea of Vietnam, Son La coffee of Vietnam, and Preah Vihear rice of Cambodia. These may otherwise be ordinary commodities but with the addition of GI, they become specialty products with a premium.
In the Philippines, we can think of many products that can carry a GI, such as Sulu coffee, Benguet coffee, Batangas Liberica, Criollo cacao from Bohol, Bicol pili (now nearing GI status), Sukang Iloko, Malabon patis, Tultul salt, Miag-ao salt, and more.
The only work we need to do is educate the producers and the communities to be able to protect their ancestral traditions of food production. Thanks again to Director-General Rowel Barba of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHIL), we are now adding to the roster of our GI-registered products.
This is a good investment for the communities who otherwise just sell their produce as commodities. Think of heirloom rice from Kalinga and Ifugao which could have collective marks. Think of Carcar lechon in Cebu, pomelo from Davao, mangosteen, marang, and durian. Civic organizations who continue to help farming communities can also help them be sustainable through IP registration. And GI is a way to do it. They can add value to their produce once they have a GI — and consumers are assured they are getting the right, original, and authentic product as claimed. It sounds easy and IPOPHL can hold our hands in doing this.
The Department of Tourism (DoT) can also help transform areas into GI destinations for food lovers and enthusiasts, as the trend worldwide is to find the product at the source. Already, the DoT has started by joining Slow Food (www.slowfood.com) in using food as a hook for tourists looking for gastronomic destinations.
The Department of Trade and Industry (www.dti.org) can help products with GI be showcased in food fairs abroad or in our very own consular offices or Philippine Centers, like those in New York and San Francisco.
But first, we must educate the consumers to look for “the mark.”
In Slow Food events, we look for Presidia* products, like a special fish sauce called Colatura, or a special cheese produced only in a specific region. We look for Normandy oysters, as we can also look for Tayabas Bay oysters. But are they registered as GI?
The Europeans were way ahead in making their products special and protected with marks like France’s AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée or Controlled Designation of Origin), DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata, Italy’s version of AOC), and DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, the highest Italian classification for wine). And the WIPO makes sure governments abide by updated rules on all these individual classifications of wines, cheese, and other agricultural products.
But wait, there are other IPs that can boost economies. These can be trademarks, like Café Amadeo in Cavite. It is a registered trademark, not a GI, and yet Batangas is jealous that Cavite has pulled the rug from under their feet as the original source of Barako coffee. I explained that Amadeo is known for Philippine coffee in general, not specifically Liberica or Barako which Batangas may still claim. Amadeo’s local executives, way back in 2002, had a vision of promoting Philippine coffee and tagged themselves as the “Coffee Capital of the Philippines” and no one questioned or challenged such a claim. If you have been using a tag like this with no opposition from anybody, you can claim and register it as your own.
That is what intellectual assets and IP protect. IP rewards creators, innovators, and visionaries. And translate simple origins or names of origins into prime assets — for as long as they have a plausible story of being the original source.
Do check the rules on IP marks.
*According to www.slowfood.com, these are “small-scale food productions that protect traditional and artisanal products that are at risk of disappearing.”
Chit U. Juan is the co-vice chair of the MAP Environment Committee. She is also the president of the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. and Slow Food Manila (www.slowfood.com).
