Geographical Indicators application process in India

Darjeeling Tea was the first good to be registered as a GI good in India. The need for Darjeeling Tea to get GI protection became pronounced when it was discovered that the volume of Darjeeling Tea being sold in international market was more than the volume being produced. This made it clear that gross misappropriation by way of free riding on the brand reputation of Darjeeling Tea was taking place in the international market. The move for registration of Darjeeling Tea was initiated soon after the GI Act came into force and the process of registration was relatively smooth because it was initiated by The Tea Board of India which is a financially sound body and could afford hiring the services of all required legal, scientific and other technical experts. The point which is being made here is that for GI registration, the nature and capacity of the applicant association is crucial. Once the need is felt 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; and 3) 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. Most of the lead applicants/producers do not have the capacity/resources to undertake this process. Some applicants hire legal and scientific experts to file the application on their behalf. 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. The content of the statement of case is assessed by a consultative group of experts in the area and an examination report is issued. Post this process, in case of any objection, the Registrar communicates with the applicant and is given two months to respond or apply for a hearing. The Registrar may also withdraw an application after the hearing. Every application within three months of acceptance is published in the Geographical Indications Journal, which is bi-monthly and bi-lingual (Hindi and English) statutory publication. The Journals are published on the Registrar of Geographical Indications website and any person can file a notice of opposition within three months opposing the GI application published in the journal. At this stage, the applicant can send a copy of counterstatement which can be accepted or result in abandoning of the application after a hearing. 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 (See Figure 1).

Figure 1 : GI registration process in India

Filling an application

Appeal to IPAB

Examination

Objection

Opportunity for hearing

Refused

Acceptance

Advertised in the GI journal

Opposition if any

Allowed or refused

Appeal to IPAB

Policy

Acceptance of GI

Entered in the GI register

Particulars of regd . GI entered in part A of the register

Registration certificate issued

Particulars of regd. Authorised user entered in part B of the register

The Textile Committee of India has been spearheading a nationwide campaign in India by creating awareness among various stakeholders of Textile and Clothing sector on the benefits of GI. The Committee identifies potential products and facilitates GI registration of the products. Some GI registrations that the Committee has facilitated include Pochampally Ikkat, Lucknow Chikan Craft, Banaras Saree & Brocades of Uttar Pradesh etc. The Committee has also supported state governments of Kerala and Uttar Pradesh for registration of some of the products. In this context, three studies were conducted by the Committee. The first focused on assessing the awareness among stakeholders on GIs and identifying potential products for registration under the act. The study identified more than 200 potential products for GI registration on the basis of threat perception. The second documented the specification and uniqueness of various products, which included the production process, historical origin etc. The third study, is currently being undertaken, analyses the post GI implication for Pochampally Ikat, Sholapur Chaddar and Terry Towels It is interesting to note , that out of the total 120 registered GIs so far, 80 (66%) belongs to the handicraft category followed by agriculture 31 (26%), manufactured 7 (6%) and food stuff (2%). The trends and patterns in the year wise distribution of GIs in India show that while there has been an overall increase in the number of registered GI products, the increase has not been consistent over the last 6 years. Only three (3) products were registered in the first year (2004-2005).The number of products registered under GI recorded a significance increase in the year 200506. Twenty four (24) new products were registered in the following year (20052006) but in the next year 2006-2007, only 3 new products were registered. The year 2008-09 witnessed the maximum number of new products registered (45) .However, in the following year there was a significant drop in the number of new GI product registration.Only 14 products were registered in the year 200910.

Made by : DebashritaSarkar (B-38)