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The Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams, a trust that administers the Venkateswara Temple in the Tirumala hills, had applied for Geographical Indication (GI) with the Chennai- based Geographical Indication Registry in March last year.
"The GI certificate for Tirupati Laddoo has been granted to the trust (TTD). The Laddoo is now protected under law and nobody can copy it," G L Verma, Assistant Registrar of Trade Marks and GI, said from Chennai.
Under GI, the right to marketing a product is tied to a definite geographical territory and the manufactured goods should be produced or processed or prepared in that territory.
Popular items that have been granted GI tag world over include Champagne and Tequilla, and the procedure helps in preventing others from surreptitiously exploiting a brand name that has evolved over a period of time. The GI status provides legal protection and facilitates for action in case of infringement. GIs are covered as an element of Intellectual Property Rights.
P H Kurian, Controller-General of Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks, also confirmed granting of GI status to Tirupati Laddu. TTD, however, couldn't be reached for comments. Tirupati Laddoo is the popular name for Sri Vari Laddu that is offered as 'prasadam' (sacred food) to the devotees after they worship Lord Venkateswara.
"The size and flavour are typical characteristics of Tirupati Laddoo. Tirupati Laddoos are not produced anywhere in the world and are very unique in terms of quality, reputation and other characteristics, which go into its making," TTD had claimed in its application.
Primarily there are two types of laddoos small and big. A small laddoo weighs about 174 grams, whereas the big ones weigh between 700 and 720 grams. In the past, GI tag has been awarded to a number of Indian products or goods including Darjeeling Tea, Madhubani Paintings and Goa Feni.
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TTD states in their GI application (at page 42 of the GI journal No. 28), that “these laddus are offered as prasadam only to the devotees who visit Tirumala and offer worship to Lord Venkateswara here and not to any one else. Therefore to get ‘Tirupathi laddu’ one has to visit the abode of the Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala. The said laddus cannot be obtained by any other means in the world.”Geographical Indication is a notice to the customer that the mentioned product (goods) comes from the specified geographical area. Therefore, the legislative intent of Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 is to ensure that the “producers” from the geographical region are benefited by the market sale of the product (goods) identified by the Geographical Indication, which also serves as a quality mark.Of course, Tirupathi Laddu does not deserve a “goods” status, as it is not sold in the market. Hence it is not appropriate to register ‘Tirupathi laddu’ as “goods"
It imperitive to get Geographical Indication (GI) for other Indian pruducts as well. There is a Swiss company maketing a youhgurt drink as 'Lassie' and claims to have the copyright for it. Lassie can never be Swiss. The Germans are sprinkling some Garam Masala on sausages and calling it 'Curry-wurst'. Mats are being called 'Yoga' mats. Some time back there was report where some unknown wannbe cook from Glasgow claimed that 'Chicken Tikka Masala' was from Scotland. I remember the Americans were trying to patent their rice as 'Texamati'(Basmati rice) and not to forget the 'Neem'. The Swiss wanted a patent for 'parboiled' rice. India through an Access Agreement with the European Patent Office, has established a mechanism to protect India's traditional medicinal knowledge from bio-piracy.NOW IT TIME FOR INDIAN AND ASIANS TO PROTECT THEIR traditional DIVERSITY. Intellectual Property Rights are not only for N. Americans and Europeans but for all where they originated.