In India geographical indications are protected by sui generis legislation: the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 [GI Act] followed by The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Rules, 2002. The basis for such a model may be attributed to Article 22 of the TRIPs Agreement, which stipulates that members should provide "legal means" to prevent misuse of geographical indications.
Under the GI Act, the central government has established the Geographical Indications Registry with an all-India jurisdiction in Chennai where right holders can register their rights. The GI Act is being administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks – who is the Registrar of Geographical Indications. According to a press release of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, 61 geographical indications have been registered. The majority of the registrations are in the area of textile, textile products and handicrafts. No wonder – India is a land of rich cultural heritage. The agricultural products also share a significant space with varieties of rice and spices from southern India registered along with some horticultural products.
GIs under the GI Act are defined as an identifier of goods originating or being manufactured in the territory of a country and essentially due to this reason have a given quality, reputation or other characteristics attributable to the specific geographical origin. In cases where such goods are manufactured goods, one of the activities of either the production or processing or preparation of the goods concerned takes place in such territory, region or locality. In this way, in case of manufactured goods, the additional requirement of either the production, or processing, or preparation of the good concerned must take place in the location of the good's geographical origin.
The GI registration procedure starts with filing an application for registration. Every application is examined by the registrar. Significant information required to be placed before the registrar includes:
- how the geographical indication is an identifier of the goods originating from a particular region/territory;
- the standard benchmark for the use of the geographical indication;
- the particulars of the mechanism to ensure the standards, quality, integrity and consistency of the goods; and
- the details of special human skill involved or the uniqueness of the geographical environment.
This information along with the other mandatory requirements entails codifying distinctive facts related to the products, processes, and origin, which is a rigorous exercise and also requires technical expertise. The very fact that out of the total number of geographical indications registered as of now, almost half of them received their registration between 2007 and 2008 reveals increased enthusiasm from applicants and also the Registry. From 2007 to 2008, 37 applications were received out of which 31 GIs were registered.
In order to give a boost to the registration of GIs, the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recently addressed all state governments to take the initiative in promoting registration of the GIs of their states.
 |
| Gladys Mirandah |
Patrick Mirandah Co (Singapore)
111 North Bridge Road
#22-02 Peninsula Plaza
Singapore 179098
Singapore
Tel: +65 6336 9696
Fax: +65 6338 3739
singapore@mirandah.com
www.mirandah.com
