Tags:
Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, OCT 17: India has again notched a victory in its patent battle for Basmati rice, forcing a US company to withdraw its `kasmati’ trademark from the UK market.
Following a cancellation action filed by the Indian government through the agricultural and processed food products export development authority (APEDA), Ricetec Inc, that had patented four strains of Basmati rice, was forced to withdraw its claim.
India maintained that Basmati has traditionally been associated with a specific region of the Indian sub-continent, the sub-Himalyan region. This name has been in use for long to describe the unique long-grained aromatic rice grown in this region.
Consequently, the name is the geographical indication for such rice and can be used only by legitimate growers, traders, millers, retailers and exporters of basmati rice, India argued.
The registration obtained by Ricetec for the word `kasmati’, which sounds deceptively similar to Basmati, confers upon Ricetec a monlopoly, contrary to the name’s significance as a geographical indication, APEDA said.
