Bangladesh authority sitting on draft GI Act
http://theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=159061:bangladesh-authority-sitting-on-draft-gi-act&catid=169:op-ed&Itemid=201
Bangladesh authority sitting on draft GI Act
Print Edition
Top of Form
User Rating: / 0
PoorBest
Bottom of Form
Op-ed
SATURDAY, 09 MARCH 2013
AUTHOR / SOURCE: M S SIDDIQUI
There are two burning issues of GI to understand the Geographical Indication. RiceTec, a Texas-based US company, in 1997, patented some types of rice they developed as American basmati.
RiceTec Inc, had been trying to enter the international Basmati market with brands like Kasmati and Texmati. Ultimately, the company claimed to have developed a new strain of aromatic rice by interbreeding basmati with another variety. They sought to call the allegedly new variety as Texmati or American Basmati. RiceTec Inc, was issued the Patent number 5663484 on Basmati rice lines and grains on September 2, 1997.
RiceTec has got a patent for three things: growing rice plants with certain characteristics identical to Basmati, the grain produced by such plants, and the method of selecting rice based on a starch index (SI) test devised by RiceTec, Inc.
The patenting of Basmati by RiceTec Inc. is perceived as not only intellectual property and cultural theft, but it also directly threatens farm communities in Southeast Asia. The main aim for obtaining the patent by RiceTec Inc. is to fool the consumers in believing there is no difference between spurious Basmati and real Basmati. Moreover, the theft involved in the Basmati patent is, therefore, threefold: a theft of collective intellectual and biodiversity heritage on farmers of South Asia, a theft from traders in the SE region and exporters whose markets are being stolen by RiceTec Inc., and finally a deception of consumers since RiceTec is using a stolen name Basmati for rice which are derived from Indian rice
Bangladesh authority sitting on draft GI Act
Print Edition
Top of Form
User Rating: / 0
PoorBest
Bottom of Form
Op-ed
SATURDAY, 09 MARCH 2013
AUTHOR / SOURCE: M S SIDDIQUI
There are two burning issues of GI to understand the Geographical Indication. RiceTec, a Texas-based US company, in 1997, patented some types of rice they developed as American basmati.
RiceTec Inc, had been trying to enter the international Basmati market with brands like Kasmati and Texmati. Ultimately, the company claimed to have developed a new strain of aromatic rice by interbreeding basmati with another variety. They sought to call the allegedly new variety as Texmati or American Basmati. RiceTec Inc, was issued the Patent number 5663484 on Basmati rice lines and grains on September 2, 1997.
RiceTec has got a patent for three things: growing rice plants with certain characteristics identical to Basmati, the grain produced by such plants, and the method of selecting rice based on a starch index (SI) test devised by RiceTec, Inc.
The patenting of Basmati by RiceTec Inc. is perceived as not only intellectual property and cultural theft, but it also directly threatens farm communities in Southeast Asia. The main aim for obtaining the patent by RiceTec Inc. is to fool the consumers in believing there is no difference between spurious Basmati and real Basmati. Moreover, the theft involved in the Basmati patent is, therefore, threefold: a theft of collective intellectual and biodiversity heritage on farmers of South Asia, a theft from traders in the SE region and exporters whose markets are being stolen by RiceTec Inc., and finally a deception of consumers since RiceTec is using a stolen name Basmati for rice which are derived from Indian rice