Sometime last week, the Calcutta High Court passed a judgment that went unnoticed in the news space. The court held that using the word “Darjeeling” was not the sole prerogative of the Tea Board. It ruled that the ITC Sonar hotel in Kolkata was free to carry on with its Darjeeling Lounge.
The ruling is certainly all about corporates and intellectual property laws and rights. The judgment, which was first reported by the prolific Spicy IP blog, draws the line till which one can push the Geographical Indications argument. The decision makes a perceptible distinction between GIs and trademarks.
The case stems from the fact that the Tea Board is the registered proprietor of the GI “Darjeeling” and the logo of a woman holding tea leaves under the GI Act, as well as the certification trade mark “Darjeeling” under the Trade Marks Act, in connection with “tea”.
The board filed a case against ITC for using “Darjeeling Lounge” as the name for its executive lounge at the ITC Sonar. The suit covered several grounds, including infringement of the GI and the certification trademark, as well as for passing off and dilution. It said that the use of “Darjeeling” in connection with any goods or services (not necessarily tea) would be violative of their rights.
This case is not about the corporate hegemony over names and words that is governed by trademark laws. Yet, it is about hegemony – that of GIs. The tussle may have been a high-profile fight between major corporate entities, but ordinary people need to know of the goings-on too.
Had the ruling gone in favour of the Tea Board, it would have sent wrong signals all around. Entities with rights over names would have gone amok. And “Darjeeling” would have become a club in the hands of the Board for it to browbeat all around.
It would have also undermined the GI ethos. For the GIs are meant to protect Indian treasures and traditions, and not meant to create monsters out of them. According to the last count (February 8, 2011), 149 GIs have granted (PDF). Darjeeling Tea (both word and logo) was the first to get the GI status. In December 1999, Parliament passed the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act 1999. This Act seeks to provide for the registration and protection of Geographical Indications relating to goods in India.
According to India’s Geographical Indications Registry, “Geographical Indications of Goods are defined as that aspect of industrial property which refer to the geographical indication referring to a country or to a place situated therein as being the country or place of origin of that 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.”
The rules too are clear about unauthorised use of a GI:
- When unauthorized use indicates or suggests that such goods originate in a geographical area other than the true place of origin of such goods in a manner which misleads the public as to their geographical origins.
- When use of Geographical Indication results in unfair competition including passing off in respect of registered Geographical indication.
- When the use of another Geographical Indication results in a false representation to the public that goods originate in a territory in respect of which a Geographical Indication relates.
So much for rules and laws. But then many forget that laws are enacted with a spirit. If you abuse a law to suit your vested interests, you become a terrorist of another kind.
