Wine Origins Alliance Granted Observer Status at World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

GENEVA – The Wine Origins Alliance (WOA), a global coalition dedicated to protecting wine place names and eliminating barriers to wine trade, today announced that it has been granted an observer status at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This status will allow the Alliance to actively engage with WIPO General Assemblies, the annual governing bodies, as well as relevant committee and working group meetings. It will also allow the Alliance to continue to strengthen its collaboration with delegations and international organizations on important wine place name and intellectual property (IP) issues.  

The Alliance submitted its application to become an observer organization in July 2025, with the goal of contributing positively to WIPO deliberations and multilateral IP policymaking. The organization’s Assemblies of the Member States unanimously supported WOA’s application last week, and the Alliance legally became an observer upon conclusion of the WIPO General Assemblies 2026 sessions. As an observer, WOA plans to collaborate with WIPO in support of innovation, fair competition, awareness of and respect for due rights, and the protection of wine region cultural heritage, including place names, around the globe.

“Today marks an important milestone for the Wine Origins Alliance and its mission to protect wine place names worldwide,” said Morgen McLaughlin, Executive Director of the Willamette Valley Wineries Association and a member of WOA’s Steering Committee. “As a WIPO Observer, the Alliance will not just strengthen our ongoing partnership with the organization, we will reinforce our collective voice to protect wine place names internationally.”

Since its founding in 2005, WOA has served as a unified voice for the wine industry on matters pertaining to trade and non-tariff barriers. Together, WOA members represent 100,000 wineries and grape growers that have created more than 1.2 million jobs and more than $8 billion in global wine exports – the vast majority of which are micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). WOA membership encompasses organizations from 11 countries, spanning Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania; its newest members Ontario, Canada, and Mendoza, Argentina, were welcomed to the Alliance earlier this year.

“WOA member regions all recognize the importance of protecting the integrity of wine place names, and the need to work collaboratively to do so,” said Allan Sichel, representing the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) on WOA’s Steering Committee. “We are eager to deepen our engagement with WIPO going forward and continuing to advocate for the intellectual property rights of wine regions around the world.”  

Becoming an observer at WIPO builds upon WOA’s ongoing engagement with WIPO, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) and other international organizations. Most recently, in February, the Alliance met with stakeholders in Geneva to discuss trade barriers to wine, and just last month, Alliance members attended the ICANN86 Policy Forum in Sevilla, Spain, where they held meetings with high-level internet governance stakeholders regarding protecting wine place names online.

“Our recent activities in Sevilla and our new observer status at WIPO underscore the Alliance’s commitment to work towards real solutions for issues impacting wine regions globally,” said César Saldaña, President of the Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Jerez-Xérès-Sherry and a member of WOA’s Steering Committee. “While all our member regions are unique and face unique challenges, we are stronger when we come together to collaborate on important issues such as protecting the integrity of our region names.”

For more information about the Wine Origins Alliance, visit www.origins.wine or watch our “Location Matters” video here.