GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION

INTELLECTUAL PROPETY RIGHTS

BY: Amanjot Maingi Bhamini Pohoja Tanvi Arora Yamini Paliwal

Introduction

• A geographical indication is a sign used on goods that have a specific geographical

origin and possess qualities, reputation or characteristics that are essentially

attributable to that place of origin.

• A GI includes the name of the place of origin of the goods.

• An appellation of origin is a special kind of geographical indication. It generally

consists of a geographical name or a traditional designation used on products which

have a specific quality or characteristics that are essentially due to the geographical

environment in which they are produced.  The concept of a geographical indication

encompasses appellations of origin.

• Geographical indications are understood by consumers to denote the origin and the

quality of products. Many of them have acquired valuable reputations

Significance of Geographical indication Registration:

• Such identification enables the product to gain reputation and goodwill all over the

world, consequently resulting into premium prices in national and international

market.

• Recognition of a particular commodity as a geographical indication also confers the

right to protection under the Geographical Indication Act, 1999, thereby preventing

an unauthorized use of the commodity registered as GI by any third party.

• Geographical indication registration encourages community ownership and therefore

it helps in proper distribution of the economic benefits accrued from

commercialization of the commodity across a wider section of people in that territory.

Geographical Indication: The Indian Scenario

• In India 'The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act,

1999' (GI Act) was enacted in compliance with India's obligations under TRIPS at

the WTO.

• The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999

(Act 48 of 1999) came into force with effect from 15 September 2003.

• This Act seeks to provide for the registration and better protection of Geographical

Indications relating to goods in India to fulfill three key objectives:

- Adequately protect the interest of producers of GI goods and add to the prosperity of

the producers of such goods,

- Protect consumers from deception

- Promote goods bearing GI in the export market.

• The Indian GI Act defines “Geographical Indications in relation to goods as an

indication which identifies such goods as agricultural goods, natural goods or

manufactured goods as originating, or manufactured in the territory of a country or

a region or a locality in that territory where a given quality, reputation or other

characteristics of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin

and in the case of manufactured goods where one of the activities of either the

production or of processing or preparation of the goods concerned takes place in

such territory, region or locality, as the case may be.”

• Goods include any agricultural, natural or manufactured goods or any goods of

handicraft or of the industry including food stuff.

• Till date 165 goods have been registered under the Act and many more are in the

pipeline. Some of the well known GI goods are 'Darjeeling' (tea), Pochhanpalli

Ikat, Chanderi Handloom, 'Basmati' (rice), Alphonso' (mango), etc.

The salient features of the Act are mentioned under the following sixteen points:

• Definitions and interpretation of several important terms like geographical indications

goods, producers, package, registered proprietor, authorised user etc.,

• Provision for the establishment of a geographical Indications Registry;

• Provision for the maintenance of a Register of geographical Indications in two parts-part

A and part B and use of computers, etc, for maintenance of such registers. While part A

will contain all registered geographical indicators ,part B will contain particulars of

registered authorised users;

• Registration of geographical indications of goods in specified classes

• Prohibition of registration of certain geographical indications

• Provision for framing of rules by the central Government for filling of applications, its

content and matters relating to substantive examination of geographical indications

applications;

• Compulsory advertisements of all accepted geographical indications applications

and for inviting objections;

• Registration of authorised users of registered geographical indications and

providing infringement action either by a registered proprietor or authorised user;

• Provision for the renewal, rectification and restoration of geographical indication

and authorised use

• Provision for higher level of protection for notified goods

• Prohibition of assignment etc. of a geographical indications as it is public property

• Prohibition of registration of geographical indications as a trade mark;

• Appeal against registrar decisions

• Provisions relating to offences and penalties

• Provisions detailing the effects of registration and the rights conferred by

registration;

• Provision for reciprocity, power of registrar, maintenance of index, protection of

homonymous geographical indication, etc.

Registration Process For Gi Goods

• For registration of a good as a GI good, the first and foremost requirement is the existence of a credible association that can be said to represent the interest of the producers of the good under consideration.

• The Indian GI Act says that any association of persons, producers, organization or authority established by or under the law is eligible to apply for GI registration. The applicant must represent the interest of the producers.

• Producers are defined as persons dealing with the following three categories of goods:

1) Agricultural Goods include the production, processing, trading or dealing;2) Natural Goods include exploiting, trading or dealing; and3) Handicrafts or Industrial goods include making, manufacturing, trading or dealing

• The second stage is the submission of application for registration under the GI Act, 1999. The due diligence exercise requires tremendous amount of time, energy, money and technical expertise. The application has to include details of special characteristics of the product to convincingly prove the uniqueness and establish linkages between the product and its place of origin. The documentation process is extremely rigorous and requires elaborate audio-visual documentation.

• After the preparation of application is completed, applications can be filed and submitted by a legal practitioner or a registered agent and submitted to the Registrar of Geographical Indications, Chennai along with a prescribed fee. The application must be in writing in triplicate in the prescribed format (available at ). The application has to be signed by the applicant or his agent and accompanied by a statement of case.

• After the application is submitted, the examiner at the Registrar's office scans the application and deficiencies have to be corrected by the applicant within one month

• When an application of GI has been accepted, the Registrar registers the geographical indication and the applicant is issued a certificate with the seal of the Geographical Indications Registry.

• A registered GI is valid for 10 years and can be renewed on payment of renewal fee. Any person aggrieved by an order or decision can file an appeal to the intellectual property appellate board (IPAB) within three months. GI is a public property belonging to the producers and it cannot be transmitted, assigned or mortgaged. The Appellate Board or the Registrar of GI has the power to remove the GI or an authorized user from the register.

Category Wise Registered GI

CATEGORY NUMBER OF REGISTERED PRODUCTS

AGRICULTURE 45

HANDICRAFT 110

MANUFACTURED 7

FOOD STUFF 3

State/Region Wise Distribution Of GI’s In India

STATE/ REGION NO. OF REGISTERED PRODUCTS

WEST BENGAL 8

KARNATAKA 31

KERALA 20

ORISSA 9

ANDHRA PRADESH 19

JAMMU AND KASHMIR 6

MADHYA PRADESH 4

PONDICHERRY 2

MAHARASHTRA 7

GUJRAT 7

TAMIL NADU 19

RAJASTHAN 8

HIMACHAL PRADESH 4

PUNJAB 1

BIHAR 4

UTTAR PRADESH 5

CHHATTISGARH 4

GUJRAT 4

NAGALAND 1

GOA 1

ASSAM 1

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