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India: Govt Drafts Geographical Indication Act |
| Source: |
newagebd.com |
| Source Date: |
Thursday, August 23, 2012 |
| Focus: |
Knowledge Management in Government
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| Country: |
India |
| Created: |
Aug 28, 2012 |
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Customers buy jamdani saris at a market at Rupganj in Narayanganj last week. The government has drafted the Geographical Indication Act-2012 with an aim to ensure entitlement to the country’s traditional products and protect the reputation of these products against piracy. — Sony Ramany. The government has drafted the Geographical Indication Act-2012 with an aim to ensure entitlement to the country’s traditional products and protect the reputation of these products against piracy. The industries ministry, which has prepared the draft of the law, gathered feedback from the stakeholders and is examining the feedback to finalise the draft of the Geographical Indication Act 2012, ministry officials said. ‘The ministry will soon take steps for enactment of the law which will provide legal protection to the producers, rights and reputation of the products against piracy by other local manufacturers and traders,’ said a industries ministry official. He said the geographical indication would help Bangladeshi producers and innovators differentiate their products from similar competing products and increase its sales and export by protecting reputation of the products. Through the application of the GI process, businessmen can get several benefits such as ensure market access, reduced duty facility in the international market and establish brand and goodwill of local products.
However, the draft does not say anything against piracy and unlawful use by international manufacturers and traders. ‘The ministry will consider this issue while finalising the act,’ another official said. He said that after the enactment of GI act, the government would identify the products that originate in the country and register those products as its own under the act.
Geographical indication means identifying and defining any products according to the origin of country or territory or in a region in any country and the sign of GI ensure a given quality, reputation and other characteristic of the products. Industries ministry officials said the products might be natural, agricultural, industrial or handicraft items. The difference between trademark and GI is nature of ownership. Trademark can be owned individually or by a group of people but the GI gives the product a collective right owned by a concerned community, they said. In the absence of the GI act in the country, Bangladesh is going to lose its rights on some traditional products such as Jamdani Sari, Nakshikatha and Fazli Mango as neighboring India has already got entitlement of these products as her own traditional products under GI act. India has registered Jamdani as Upada Jamdani Sari from Andhra Pradesh. Recently, Export Promotion Bureau asked the Industries Ministry to take steps to cancel the Indian registration of Jamdani Sari and get entitlement to the product in the name of Bangladesh, EPB officials said. In a letter, EPB said that Jamdani is a unique Bangladeshi handloom product with a glorious history and unique creativity and Bangladeshi weavers make this fine cloth for thousands of years. ‘But the sale of Jamdai might decrease as India holds the entitlement of the product,’ it said. Officials from the Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks told New Age that after enactment of the Geographical Indication Act, they will take steps to cancel Indian registration of the Jamdani Sari. According to the draft GI act, any registered association of manufacturers, any institution and authority will be able to get GI registration of any products and GI department will provide registration. The draft also described the qualification for application for registration, the process of application, procedure of appeal to court, cancellation and rectification of registration, and crimes and punishment under the act.
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India: Govt Drafts Geographical Indication Act Customers buy jamdani saris at a market at Rupganj in Narayanganj last week The government has drafted the Geographical Indication Act-2012 with an aim to ensure entitlement to the country’s traditional products and protect the reputation of these products against piracy
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