The Hindu Business Line : India, Pak team up to file GI for basmati

India and Pakistan will jointly seek Geographical Indications (GI) registration in Europe and the US for basmati rice, according to the Union Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh.

Speaking to newspersons, he said that India had given up the idea of filing for a registration on its own because the rice variety is grown in Pakistan too.

The Government will jointly own the intellectual property along with a Pakistani body, perhaps the Pakistani Government.

GI registration

The Minister, who visited the Geographical Indications Registry, said that in the last one year since the process of registration of geographical indications started, 28 products had been given GI registration.

Later, he explained the difference between GI and trademark, pointing out that trademark was for an intellectual property of an individual entity (person, firm or a company), while GI was given for the product of a community.

GI registration was very necessary. "Otherwise, you will have Chinese-made Kanchipuram silk sarees."

Mr Ramesh also said that the tea, coffee and spices boards would file for registration of a variety of products such as Nilgiri and Khangra tea, Malabar coffee, and Tellicherry pepper. GIs will also be sought for mangoes, which after a long and hard diplomatic battle, are likely to be exported to the US and Japan, he added. Among the 28 products that have been given GI registration are Kanchipuram silk, Mysore sandal soap, Madurai sungudi, Coimbatore wet grinder, and Nanjangud bananas.

A GI registration helps to ensure that no other product is sold under that label except from the geographical area that it is registered for. For example, if a Chinese company sold Kanchipuram silk sarees or a Sri Lankan company sold Darjeeling tea, it would be in violation of intellectual property rights.

Therefore, the product's `speciality' is protected, which ought to enhance its value in the markets.

But does a GI really enhance the value of a product? "We don't know yet," Mr Ramesh said, adding that he had asked for a study to be made of the experience of Darjeeling tea.

Asked if a GI registration in India will help fight an infringement abroad, the Minister said that a GI registration had to be obtained in each country the product is sought to be protected. "But you can't register a product abroad unless it is registered in India."