ABSTRACT:
The whole world in its present form is driven by the innovation, which no doubt has changed a Gramophone Record to an I-Pod, an abacus to a computer, a penny mail to E-Mail, TV Antenna to Dish TV, Bank to an ATM machine, bullock carts to BMW's and so on. All these innovations are the creation of human mind constituting the intellectual property. TRIPS agreement considers copyright, undisputed information, trademarks, industrial design, integrated circuits, patents and geographical indication as intellectual properties. A Geographical Indication (GI) of origin is essentially a place name that identifies the geographic source of a good and signifies a distinctive quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good that is essentially attributable to that geographic source. Names such as 'Darjeeling', 'Basmati', 'Champagne', etc are examples of some such well known Gls that are associated throughout the world with products of a certain nature and quality. India has many products and services both natural and manmade which have been produced for many years and these products are known for their characteristics and are associated with specific geographical location. Geographical indications stand on an equal footing with other intellectual property rights such as trademarks or copyright but level of protection is insufficient. The goodwill and reputation associated with such renowned geographical names was enjoyed by foreign companies and traders for years. Controversy related with basmati rice was the one of the glaring example of wrongful exploitation of a renowned GI from India. Every country, whether developed, developing or in transition, has products which are the fruits of its culture and know-how, and its unique blend of soil, water or climate, and which, therefore, deserve effective protection. This can only be done effectively by granting them additional protection against erosion of their geographical indications and by creating awareness among the public.
Cite this article:
Das, Deshmukh and Joseph (1996). Protection Of Geographical Indications: A Necessity. Journal of Ravishankar University (Part-A: Science), 9(1), pp. 16-19.