P rotection of appellations of origin (AO) is provided by a number of international multilateral and bilateral treaties, as well as by the legislation of the Republic of Moldova. The basic international instrument governing the AO is the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration (1958), to which acceded 20 countries, the Republic of Moldova being its 20-th Member State as from April 5, 2001. The concern of the countries in the protection of AO increased simultaneously with the development of trade, since these intellectual property objects represent a vector of the national, regional and local cultural identity, they constitute part of the patrimony of the country, a part of the identity thereof. Promotion of patrimonial elements is very important with a view to protection versus standardization of goods and risk of flooding the market with middling and vapid products and also with a view to the positive impact on the producers due to awareness of the economic advantages bound up with the goods manufactured with AO, since these provide for the goods additional value. In the author’s opinion the conception of promoting the AO can be perfectly harmonized with that of the lasting agriculture and also needs the interest of the State. The article provides an analysis of the situation regarding protection of AO in the Member States of the Lisbon Agreement, on the basis of which certain conclusions are made on the possibility of registering AO for national products.