Geographical Indications

Geographical indications fall in the domain of Intellectual Property that proclaims the origin of goods identified by the origin where a product originates in a country or any specific place within that country. The Protection of Geographical Indications (GIs) in India is governed by “The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999”. The Object of the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 is three fold, firstly by specific law governing the geographical indications of goods in the country which could adequately protect the interest of producers of such goods, secondly, to exclude unauthorized persons from misusing geographical indications and to protect consumers from deception and thirdly, to promote goods bearing Indian geographical indications in the export market.

“Geographical Indication,” concerning goods, refers to an indication identifying them as agricultural, natural, or manufactured goods originating in the territory of a country or a specific region or locality within that territory. This indication signifies that a particular quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the goods is essentially attributable to their geographical origin. For manufactured goods, at least one of the activities involved in their production, processing, or preparation must occur in the specified territory, region, or locality. We at Khurana and Khurana understand the importance of securing our Client’s GI and are well-versed to provide to them world-class services and air-tight protection.

Types of Application

The Protection of Geographical Indications (GIs) in India is governed by “The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999”. The Geographical Indications Registry for the purposes of registration of GIs, is located in Chennai.

Who is entitled to apply?

Any statutory association of persons, producers, organization or authority can apply for registration of GIs. The applicant must essentially represent the interest of the producers only.
Under the law of GI, persons dealing with the following three categories of goods are considered Producers:
a). Agricultural Goods encompassing the production, processing, trading or dealing;
b). Natural Goods includes exploiting, trading or dealing; and
c). Handicrafts or Industrial goods comprising the processes of making, manufacturing, trading or dealing.

Filing Requirements

  • Ordinary Application: An Application which has been filed to register a Geographical Indication of India. The Geographical Indications Registry for the purposes of registration of GIs, is located in Chennai.
  • Convention Application: An Application filed for registration of a Geographical Indication from a convention country, along with proof of registration / filing of that Geographical Indication in the Home Country.
  • Single Class Application: An application which has been filed to register for a specification of goods included in one class.
  • Multi Class Application: A single application filed for registration of Geographical Indications for different or more than one classes of goods.
  • Divisional Application: A divided application made by the division of a single initial application for registration of a geographical indication for different classes of goods.

Who Is Entitled To Apply?

  • Any association of persons, producers, organization or authority established by or under any law representing the interest of the producers of the concerned goods.
  • The Applicant has to be a legal entity and should be representing the interest of producers of the good applied for. Any such organization or association that is not of the producers may have to prove that they represent the interest of producers.

Under the law of GI, persons dealing with the following three categories of goods are considered Producers:

  • Agricultural Goods
  • Natural Goods
  • Manufactured goods; and
  • Handicrafts or Industrial goods
  • foodstuffs

Prosecution

  • On receipt of an application, the Examiner/Authorised Officer shall scrutinize the application and the accompanying Statement of Case as to whether it meets the requirements of the GI Act and the Rules .
  • Deficiencies, if any, found through a preliminary examination shall be communicated by the Examiner/Authorised Officer to the Applicant or his Agent.
  • The deficiencies shall be complied with in a time limit mentioned in the communication.
  • If the Applicant fails to remedy any deficiencies within the stipulated time so notified, the Application may be treated as abandoned. However, the Applicant may file a request of extension of time of One month in Form GI-9(C) with prescribed fee.
  • When the deficiencies are addressed, the Examiner/Authorised Officer shall submit the Application to the Registrar of GI for his consideration.
  • The Registrar shall ordinarily constitute a Consultative Group of not more than seven representatives to ascertain the correctness of the particulars furnished in the Statement of Case.
  • Thereupon the Registrar shall consider the Application on merits and based on observation / comments of Consultative Group, issue an Examination Report.
  • The Examination Report may contain objections to the acceptance of the Application or proposal to accept it subject to such conditions, amendments, modification or limitations as the Registrar may think fit to impose.
  • The Applicant shall within two months of the date of communication of Examination Report comply with proposals mentioned in the Examination Report or submit his observations or apply for a Hearing.
  • If the applicant fails to amend his application or submit his observations in writing or fails to apply for a hearing or fails to attend the hearing, the application shall be dismissed.
  • If the Application is found to be in order, the Registrar accepts the Application and publishes it in the ensuing GI Journal.

Opposition

Any person can oppose the registration of geographical indication by way of a notice in writing to the Registrar. This shall be done within a period of three months from the date of advertisement of the application in the Journal. The Applicant shall be required to send a counter statement to the Registrar within two months from the date of receipt of a copy of the notice of opposition from the Registrar, stating the grounds on which he relied in making the application. Thereupon, within two months from the date of receipt of the counter statement, the opponent shall submit his evidence in support of his contentions. Ordinarily, within three months from the date of completion of the evidence, the registrar shall give both the parties one-month prior notice and then conduct a hearing. Upon hearing the contentions of both the parties and considering the evidence, the decision of the Registrar shall be notified to the parties in writing.

Registration & Renewal

Registration of a GI bestows such rights only on the Registered Proprietor and the Authorised Users:

  • Right to obtain relief in case of infringement of GI.
  • Exclusive right to use of the GI in relation to the goods for which GI is registered.
  • Two or more authorised users of a registered GI shall have corresponding and equal rights.

The registration of GI is valid for a period of ten years, and may be renewed thereafter from time to time on payment of renewal fee.