In the 2014 Special 301 Report the United States welcomes Guatemala’s actions to improve its laws and regulations to protect geographical indications. In the Report it is said: “Administrative authorities in Guatemala recently issued rulings on applications to register geographical indications (GIs) that appear sound and well-reasoned for compound GI names, but U.S. exporters remain concerned that rulings on single-name GIs, particularly related to dairy products, may prohibit new marketing opportunities for those products in Guatemala.”
The IPR infringement, pirated and counterfeit goods availability, trademark squatting, government use of unlicensed software, production and distribution of counterfeit medicines, manufacture of pirated and counterfeit goods are considered as major problems that need to be addressed. To do so, Guatemala also has to improve its judicial system.
The entire report can be found here.
