Karnataka leads in GI trademarks

Karnataka leads the way with 32 GIs (Geographical Indications) among all states in India, according to the Trade Marks & GI Registry attached to the Intellectual Property Office of India.

The state currently holds seven agriculture-based GIs while the rest are in the areas of handlooms and handicrafts, said Chinnaraja G Naidu, Assistant Registrar, Trade Marks & GI Registry in Bangalore on Monday. “Despite this there has been a lack of understanding and awareness by many GIs as to how to derive commercial benefit from GI tag,” Naidu said at a workshop and exposition on Geographical Indications (GI) with the focus on creating economic value generation for Indian GIs.

Since 2003, the Trade Marks & GI Registry, Intellectual Property Office has received 463 application for GI out of which 195 have been registered. Of these 195 GIs, only a handful have seen commercial successes, Naidu said.

The workshop which saw participation from industry, the central and Karnataka government departments and several leading GI stakeholders in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

Geographical Indications refer to a country or to a place as being the country or place of origin of a particular product. Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness which is essentially attributable to the fact of its origin in that defined geographical locality, region or country.