News from Indian Patent Office

Indian Patent Office JPO/IPR Training Program for Fiscal 2014

The office of Controller General of Patent, Design, Trade Mark and Geographical Design has issued a public notice whereby applications are invited for JPO/IPR Training Program for Fiscal 2014. Realising the importance of IP protection and its key role in promoting foreign investment and technology transfer for boosting nation’s industrial development, The Japan Patent Office has been providing support since 1996 for human resource education in order to reinforce the IP protection in developing countries. The Training programme is funded by the JPO, while its operation is entrusted to JIPII & HIDA.

For more details on can refer to the following website; http://www.training-jpo.go.jp/en/

GI Tags for Indian Products 

The celebration of International IP Day on 26^th of April has brought immense joy as the Indian current list of Geographical Indication has got few new additions to it.

The proud owners of latest GI tags are the world famous juicy orange of Nagpur, the famous tribal Warli Art, the unique Dharmavaram saris with brocaded gold patterns, Kerala’s Kaipad rice, the famous Moradabad metal craft and glass work from Utter Pradesh, the Kanpur Saddelary, Saharanpur wood craft, the Kangra paintings from Himachal Pradesh, the Thewa Art work from Rajasthan and the three diversified knit from Manipur namely- ShapheeLanphee, WangkheiPhee, and MoirangPhee.

The recognition of GI status has bought bounty cheers and happiness to the farmers and cultivators of Nagpur Mandarin who usually suffer from poor irrigation facility and insufficient exposure to proper marketing facility. The GI status would give them the privilege to sell their oranges in both domestic and international markets with a GI tag. This would usher value to their cultivated orange which they would be selling with a distinctive logo bearing the picture of white orange in an orange background. The formal application for GI tag of Nagpur Orange had come from Agriculture Research Council (ARC) ofPanjabraoDeshmukhKrishiVidyapeeth (PDKV), Akola, in 2011. So the entire scientific community are welcoming the news with whole heartedly.

In India the first GI was granted to Darjeeling Tea in 2003, and later on many subsequent entries were made to the list. Currently the GI list of India includes 191 products from across the country.