A long journey from the hills of Darjeeling via Benaras, Lucknow, Madhya Pradesh, Tirupati and finally to Kanchipuram would be stressful indeed. But the goodies from all these places are what make us show off that we actually went there. Imagine having a hot cup of Darjeeling tea, or wearing Benarasi sari, or eating Tirupati laddu, or having a beautiful Tanjore painting on your wall. All these sure do sound nice. What if I told you that I grew the Darjeeling tea plant in my backyard, or painted a picture and called it Tanjore painting, or worse, made laddus and branded it as Tirupati laddu?

That would sound scary if these goodies are not protected enough.

That is the reason we have GI protection or the Geographical Indicator protection. The GI protection initially came into being in the country of France in the year 1992 for the protection of the famous GI French wines. Some of the other famous GIs that followed up after that were Tequila, Champagne, Swiss cheese, etc.

The basic reason why the GI protection was initiated was to prevent the sales of fake products or any form of passing off of goods, by using the GI name. In India the need for GI protection became essential because we are one of those countries which have so many goods that are special only because of their Geographical origin. Some of the famous Indian GIs are Salem fabric, Kota Doria, Dharwad Petha, Kanchipuram Silk, Tanjore doll, Pashmina Shawl, etc.

The GI protection in India is governed by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 which came in to force with effect from September 2003. Under section 2(e) of the GI act

Geographical Indicators means an indication which identifies such goods as agricultural goods, natural goods or manufactured goods as originating, or manufactured in the territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and in case where such goods are manufactured goods one of the activities of either the production or of processing or preparation of the goods concerned takes place in such territory, region or locality, as the case may be

The GI act was drafted to protect a GI, register a GI, renew the registration of a GI, award penalties for those who try to replicate a GI, etc.

The procedure for registering a GI is relatively simpler when compared to getting a trademark registered. The registration of a GI primarily includes a representation from a group of people or an association that primarily produce the same type of goods that are specific only to a particular geographical region. For example all the tea producers of Darjeeling came together as a single unit and got their product, “The Darjeeling Tea” registered in order to ensure that nobody else used their name and sold the famed Beverage.

Like trademarks, a GI is also categorized into different classes for determining the type of good that needs protection. GIs have existed over a long period of time and have obtained a unique identity and reputation that is associated only with that geographical region, hence GI registration requires a need to submit as many documentary proof of existence as possible, and also the registration requires a documented proof of its usage and demand, by the public.

This way, any form of GI registered in the country is protected to the extent that no one would actually think of infringing it. On the contrary a GI protection enables the intellectually famed good to exist as long as possible.

Therefore, next time you buy a product with the name of a region on it, just remember its not just cause they liked the place or were patriotic – it indicates the geographical origin for a reason!

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