By Jonathan Lynn

GENEVA, May 21 (Reuters) - A lobby group representing producers of goods linked to particular regions called on Wednesday for legal protection to be extended to all such products, not just wines and spirits.

The Organisation for an International Geographical Indications Network (oriGIn) also called for the creation of a an international register where such products could be entered, which would create an obligation on authorities in all countries to give their names legal protection.

"Those of us who don't have the luck of producing wine and spirits for whatever reason do not obtain the same degree of protection under international law and we think that's simply unfair," oriGIn President Luis Fernando Samper said.

The group aims to extend the same protection to products such as India's basmati rice, Colombian coffee, Kenyan tea and Swiss watches as wines and spirits such as French Champagne and Mexican Tequila currently enjoy.

Most of the products involved are farm produce, but the group is looking at how to protect traditional crafts in India, and technical goods such as watches in Switzerland, which are also associated with a particular region.

QUESTION OF TASTE

The names of wines and spirits, effectively the brand of the product, are protected under the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) intellectual property rules as "geographical indications", also known as appellations.

That is because the taste and quality of wines and spirits are affected by the local climate and soil, and often by traditional local production methods.

Selling similar products from other regions under the same name can mislead consumers.

The European Union, Switzerland and a growing number of developing countries are trying to extend this protection to other products in negotiations in the WTO's Doha round, and also create a legally binding register.

"We think that it's crucial that within the Doha round we no longer get first-class products and second-class products and that's what happens now," Samper, who is also intellectual property director of the Colombian Coffee Federation, told a news conference.

A number of big new world food producers such as Australia and the United States object, saying that a compulsory register would be cumbersome and that normal trademark and copyright laws are sufficient to protect products.

The makers of prosciutto ham in Parma, Italy, would not agree -- a Canadian meat company trademarked the name "Parma ham" some years ago and prosciutto cannot be sold in Canada as Parma ham.

And U.S. potato growers from Idaho have joined oriGIn to protect their crop. (Editing by Philippa Fletcher)