Geographical Indication and Authorized Users
Geographical Indications (GI) is the form of Intellectual Property (IP) which has been attracting attention of policy-makers, lawyers, economists as well as producers (particularly in agriculture sector) since the adoption of TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement. The major reason for this attention could be that GI is the only form of IP which is owned by whole producing community and not just an individual or an enterprise. GIs are basically distinguishing signs that are used to identify competing goods particularly in the international market wherein the extent of losses due to counterfeit goods is huge. The use of Geographical Origin brands comes up with its own set of challenges. Considering the collective nature of GIs, the producers must organize themselves, bring in collective actions pertaining to production standards, quality standards & control, product distribution and marketing as well. This post particularly deals with