Du IP Café

GENERIC GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS - AN ANTITHESIS! Geographical Indications sometimes may prove to be a self destructive mechanism if not fiercely guarded by the community involved in the manufacture or cultivation of the product. Starting with this controversial statement, I would be touching upon a delicate issue of Generic Geographical Indications and try to analyze the legal provisions and some of the cases. Geographical Indications that are no longer understood by the common people to indicate a specific origin of goods, but that cannot denote a specific kind or category or product, may cease to function as distinctive signs capable of benefiting from protection. There have been and still are lot of controversies and debates over couple of questions surrounding the topic captioned above as -  When does an indication or a designation become a generic or common name for the goods? What are the factors that need to be considered in determining the same? I have come acros

ALPHONSO MANGO - AN IDENTITY CRISIS..? The issue of Alphonso Mango and Geographical Indication has come back on the table for a hearing to decide upon the existing and non-existing dichotomy.  Taking a queue from my earlier post , I stand by what I have said asserting the position of Ratnagiri Alphonso Mango, Devgad Alphonso Mango in the light of Geographical Indications. I would like a quote a paragraph from a research article titled " An Environment Appraisal of Jaigad-The Proposed Site for the 1200MW Mega Thermal Power Plant” published by The Green Alternatives, Mumbai (2007), Dr. P.R. Arun, while discussing the unique agricultural biodiversity of Ratnagiri region said: “The conservation value of this area is further enhanced because of the unique Ratnagiri Alphonso mangoes . Ratnagiri Alphonso variety of mangoes is produced only from this small region, and is a delicacy for mango lovers all over the world. It is time that the Government take the necessary