At the congress, they presented the paper “Registration Choices and Governance Failures, Municipal Applicant Power and the Practical Viability of a Short-Cycle Protected Geographical Indication: The Rucava White Butter Case”.
The presentation analysed the role of a municipality in the registration process of a protected geographical indication, with particular attention to the case of Rucava white butter. The research examined how decisions made by a municipality acting as the applicant – regarding product specifications and the preservation of traditional production methods – affect not only the legal protection of the product, but also its practical viability in the market.
Particular emphasis was placed on the fact that, for traditional products with a short supply cycle and a very limited shelf life, registration alone is not sufficient. Successful development of such products requires:
- coordinated governance;
- institutional cooperation;
- active involvement of producers;
- well-considered market access strategies that make it possible to preserve the authenticity of the product while also promoting its economic sustainability.
Participation in an international congress of this scale provides an opportunity not only to introduce foreign colleagues to the work of Latvian researchers and current intellectual property law issues relevant to our region, but also to strengthen the international visibility of the UL Faculty of Law’s academic staff and early-career researchers and to expand their networks for future cooperation.
ATRIP is an international academic organisation that brings together intellectual property law researchers and doctoral students from around the world, promoting research, teaching, exchange of experience, and the professional development of early-career researchers.
 – doctoral student Sintija Zalāne and Vice-Dean for Research, Associate Professor Vadims Mantrovs – participated in the 44th Annual ATRIP Congress, “Intellectual Property and Politics: From Power Relations to Realpolitik”, held at the Faculty of Law of the University of São Paulo in Brazil.){kind=link}