Du IP Café

A question from the editor of a magazine invigorated me to write this post. The question was directed to the procedure of registration of Geographical Indications (GI) in India. A lot has been said regarding the formal procedure which ends with a high note that the procedure is lengthy and complex. However, not much has been said or written giving practical insights about the procedural intricacies and that's what this post is about! Categorize the goods at hand: whether it is agricultural, handicraft, manufactured or natural goods? Moving on, find out the need for protection of the particular community product. A little bit of market research of the product would prove to be useful in establishing the case later, if required. If there has been misappropriation of the name of the product then record the incident with the available evidences such as news, analytical report etc. Before commencing the drafting of application, an applicant, necessarily representing the intere...

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 a...

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...

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 d...

For The Sake of EK GARAM CHAI..! I have heard lot from people that you dwell in the past too much..may be it's true. Why may be...It is true..! Often I wondered what makes me dwell in the past.. And answer has always been a cup of tea.. Someone from the junior batch of my alma matter poked me today over my favorite tea of electronics dept canteen and I went back into time.. Even the duo of temperature and humidity were at their combined peak couldn't stop my earnest addiction of tea.. There came a time when I cycled for some 18 kms just to taste one famous tea.. "EK Chai ki hai ye dastan.. Koso door le aaya zindagi ka ye makaam Fir bhi na badli wo shaam ki Chai ki jubaan..." A lot happens over this GARAM CHAI.. Dedicated to all tea lovers.. ~until next time~

Here is to the Farmers/Producers/Traders of GI Products..! The definition of producers in the geographical indications Act is wide enough to include the above-mentioned categories of applicants.  However, going by the statistical data there are very few authorized user applications in India. Why is this so? Various factors contribute to that e.g. Lack of awareness, expectation that such things are head ache of government blah blah... All I have to say is 'there are no free lunches' and there should not be any. Reason being we get used to easy money and don't dare to venture into new potential things. We human beings are equally responsible for the droughts and famines. But all we do is blame the nature which we are incessantly exploiting without realising the consequences. Government is habituated to pay the drought hit farmers and majority of the farmers are doing nothing to alleviate the circumstances. Every single year we face the same situation and burden on ...

CETTE UNE EXPERIENCE INCROYABLE..! With the closing of the financial year 2015-16, it was the final class of certificate course of French language before we appear for exams due on coming Sunday and Monday. Past 8 months, I have been trying to understand the intricacies of the French language, culture and civilization. Maintenant, je parle avec confiance! which means I am able to speak and communicate in French (still at the certificate level though :-P) The best thing of this course was our teacher whose flawless teaching got us on the platform we were expecting. I used to always complain that I never had an opportunity to learn under the tutelage of finest of teachers. I am glad that I didn't miss out an opportunity this time and what I learnt was truly incredible. Learning a foreign language is difficult but what is even more challenging is tutoring the naive students sitting in front of you not knowing a single alphabet of the language.  However, this teacher ...