Table Of ContentNiharika Sahoo Bhattacharya Editor
Geographical
Indication
Protection in
India
The Evolving Paradigm
Geographical Indication Protection in India
Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya
Editor
Geographical Indication
Protection in India
The Evolving Paradigm
Editor
Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya
Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual
Property Law, Faculty of Interdisciplinary
Sciences and Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Kharagpur, India
ISBN 978-981-19-4295-2 ISBN 978-981-19-4296-9 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4296-9
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Preface
The concept of Geographical Indication (GI) has not received paramount impor-
tance in India compared to the other forms of intellectual property rights like Patents
and Trademarks. While the GI is becoming critical in national and international
discourses, there is a void regarding literature on current Indian perspective on GI.
Toward fulfilling this gap this book encompasses critical studies on legal, regula-
tory, and institutional frameworks and debates surrounding GIs. It aims at presenting
both national and international situations and discussion, which will be appealing to
readers worldwide. This book in its first part elaborately deals with the genesis of the
GI Act, and then it goes on to analyze both substantive and the procedural aspects
of the registration under the Indian GI Act and tries to identify the discrepancy and
gaps in the laws. Also, a comparative perspective has been built by analyzing the GI
laws and regulations of some developed region with that of India. The challenges in
existing regulation for quality control and enforcement of GI products in Indian GI
Act have been dealt by the authors which is critical in achieving the stated objectives
of the Act. The book also focuses on role of GI in socio-economic development of
rural India. The authors have illustrated how the GI can act as an effective mech-
anism in employment generation and sustainable growth opportunities in different
sectors like agriculture, food, and handicraft. The interaction of GI with traditional
knowledge and biodiversity and their impact on society is also extensively covered.
One of the unique aspects of the book is the inclusion of real-life case studies by
the authors from different states of India highlighting the success stories and missed
opportunities of different GIs and the way forward where the GI can function as
an effective tool for inclusive development of a country and promote international
trade. Overall this book is a unique compilation having comprehensive collections
covering the potentials, challenges and realities of geographical indications from
Indian perspective and it provides a factual and multidimensional insight into the GI
ecosystem in India.
Kharagpur, India Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya
v
Contents
Geographical Indication Protection System in India .................. 1
Sayantani Datta and Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya
A Study on the Quality Control and Enforcement of Registered
Geographical Indication Goods in India ............................. 27
Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya and Kuhu Tiwari
Free Trade Agreements and Geographical Indications Standards
in Asia ............................................................ 49
Ananthu S. Hari and K. D. Raju
Geographical Indication Registrations for Rural Enterprise
Development ...................................................... 75
Mahuya Hom Choudhury and Subrata Kr. Paul
Foodstuffs and Geographical Indications in India: An Analysis ........ 105
Padmavati Manchikanti, Sayantani Datta,
and Tapas Kumar Bandopadhyay
Protection of Geographical Indication: The Interface
with Traditional Knowledge ........................................ 141
Ajoy Jose and Padmavati Manchikanti
Farms to Market: GI Odyssey of Sojat Mehndi ....................... 167
Pankaj Tyagi, Lipsa Dash, and Saranya Dash
Managing Geographical Indications: Challenges
and Opportunities ................................................. 193
Surya Mani Tripathi and Sravanti Vedula
Role of Authorized User in Adding Efficacy to GI Protection
in India: Issues and Challenges ..................................... 225
Nidhi Buch
vii
Editor and Contributors
About the Editor
Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya has nearly twelve years of experience in the area of
Intellectual Property and has published in various domains of Intellectual Property
Law including patents, trademarks, geographical indications in international journals
of repute. She is currently serving as an Assistant Professor in Rajiv Gandhi School
of IP Law at IIT Kharagpur. Prior to this, she was a Scientist Fellow at National
Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), CSIR, India.
Her exposure to the real ground situation regarding GI has motivated her to come up
with a book that can showcase the real pictures about GI, particularly in India.
Contributors
Bandopadhyay Tapas Kumar Department of Metallurgy, IIT Kharagpur,
Kharagpur, India
Bhattacharya Niharika Sahoo Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law,
IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India
Buch Nidhi GNLU Centre for IPR, Gujarat National Law University, Koba,
Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
Choudhury Mahuya Hom Patent Information Centre, West Bengal State Council
of Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology and Biotech-
nology, Government of West Bengal, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Dash Lipsa School of Law, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
Dash Saranya School of Law, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
ix
x EditorandContributors
Datta Sayantani Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur,
Kharagpur, India
Hari Ananthu S. Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Insti-
tute of Technology, Kharagpur, India
Jose Ajoy Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur,
Kharagpur, India
Manchikanti Padmavati Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT
Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India
Paul Subrata Kr. Department of Architecture, Town and Regional Planning, Indian
Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, Howrah, India
Raju K. D. Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, India
Tiwari Kuhu Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur,
Kharagpur, India
Tripathi Surya Mani International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Hyderabad, India
Tyagi Pankaj Hero Motocorps Ltd, Ajmer, India
Vedula Sravanti International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT), Patancheru, Hyderabad, India
Geographical Indication Protection
System in India
Sayantani Datta and Niharika Sahoo Bhattacharya
1 Introduction
The concept of Geographical indications (GI) was first introduced in the Agreement
on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in the year 1995.
In India the GI system is nearly two decades old and it was officially introduced in the
year 1999. However, even before GI protection the identity of the products through
place names were quite popular. In a culturally diverse country like India various
traditional products have always been a medium to establish relationship between
manufacturer and consumer. As a result, product—place linkage is not a new concept
with respect to India. Simply defined, GI is a territory specific community based
right which represents the collective interest of the producer community (Vinayan,
2017). GI allows the consumers to distinguish and choose the products among similar
products, as they have an essential attribute attached with the geographical place of
origin. In the era of globalisation, distinction of one product from the rest on the
basis of geographical place of origin assures a special quality of product and creates
an overall impression for the product and the place of origin.
While the trademark system is popularly used to distinguish the product or service
of one manufacturer from another, the GI system involves many other elements apart
from source identification. The GI tagged products may be seen as the combination
of the technical, social and economic interaction along with the utilization of local
know-hows, traditional and cultural values (Belletti et al., 2017). It takes a longer
period of time to inculcate all the above quality attributes which have some connec-
tion to the place of origin to a built a specific reputation for the product. Overall, such
products are not the property of any single individual or firm but it has a collective
reputation. There is no prohibition on the descriptive use of GI as long as it causes no
confusion among consumers and thus, no prohibition preventing GI from becoming
B
S. Datta · N. S. Bhattacharya ( )
Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India
e-mail: [email protected]
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 1
N. S. Bhattacharya (ed.), Geographical Indication Protection in India,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4296-9_1
2 S.DattaandN.S.Bhattacharya
generic (Wong & Elbegsaikhan, 2020). The protection and promotion of products
under GIs result in higher economic gains, fostering quality production and equitable
distribution of profits for the rural communities (UNCTAD, 2015). GI protection also
holds the potential to achieve sustainable development goals like eradicating poverty,
zero hunger, gender equality, and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, ensure
sustainable production and consumption patterns and most importantly the goal that
includes implementation and revitalising the global partnership for sustainable devel-
opment (Kimura & Rigolot, 2021, Lalitha & Vinayan, 2019, Sylvander et al., 2011,
Williams & Penker, 2009) However, one of the most discussed and debatable topic
in the current time is how GI can help to achieve these goals.
Europe was the first across the globe to knock the door for specific protection
of GIs. European countries especially the Alpine countries1 are strongly attached
to the concept of ‘terroir’ and it is a part of their identity.2 But, now GI protection
is a vogue among the developing nations also especially among those countries
which are rich in biodiversity and indigenous knowledge. GI in India protects a wide
range of products under the category of agricultural, handicraft, manufactured, food
stuffs and natural goods. In Indian parlance, GI not only protect the product but also
protects social, cultural, traditional values attached with the product. GI protection
in developing countries voice for many facets of socio—economic development,
but there are various criticisms as GI is an institutional monocropping mechanism
(Lalitha & Vinayan, 2019). The cost of implementing and fostering GIs is also a
grave concern. Further, counterfeiting and market sustainability acts as a hindrance
especially in developing countries. Hence, GI protection and enforcement cannot
adapt a ‘straight jacket formula’ and needs to be dynamic to mould itself according
to the need of the community to support its right to livelihood.
In this chapter, an endeavour has been made to highlight the GI protection in
India. This chapter provides a systematic and consolidated study of the evolution of
GI protection in India. The First section of the chapter deals with historical origin and
evolution of the concept of GI. It also discusses the progression of protection of GI
under various international legal instruments. The subsequent section briefly deals
with the product place link that makes us understand the inter-dependence between
them. The rationale behind GI protection is dealt under the section ‘significance of
GI protection’. The GI protection in India elaborately deals with the characteristics of
GI protection in India and also highlights various aspects like registration of GI, post
registration issues and the lacunas in the enforcement mechanism. The last section
of this chapter critically analyses the socio—economic impact of the existing GI
protection system through various case studies.
1 Alpine countries are those countries which are associated with the Alpine region. The countries
are Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
2 Irene calboli, Gervais D. paper.
