The appellations of origin and indication of source are species of geographical indication (GI) provided by the Brazilian industrial property law that could be seen as one of the ways of mobilization and recovering of the rural territories adding value to local products with differentiated quality. This study aimed to characterize the stages of the construction of the regulations of use of GI, the geographical area delimitation, the evidence of reputation and the relationship between product and geographical environment of GIs in Brazil. The survey research was the methodology adopted conducted through semi-structured questionnaires. The results showed that despite the shortcomings of the Brazilian legislation on GIs, several organs has enabled the construction process of the Brazilian GIs acting decisively on the elaboration steps of the regulation of use (universities, NGOs, INPI), on the area delimitation (universities , Embrapa, Emater, IMA), on the evidence of reputation (SEBRAE) and on the relationship between geographical environment and quality (universities). The proof of the influence of the geographical environment on the product qualitative characteristics is currently the main obstacle to the development of appellations of origin in the country.
intellectual property; appellation of origin; indication of source; traditional knowledge; legislation