The government has finally drafted the Geographical Indication (GI) rules to help protect the patent rights and ensure the country's ownership of a range of traditional items, including Jamdani.
The Department of Patents, Designs & Trademarks (DPDT) of Ministry of Industries (MoI) formulated the draft of the rules which would be finalised this month, officials of the ministry said.
The Registrar of DPDT Md Sanowar Hossain told the FE that the rules were formulated according to the GI law 2013 which will give a complete guideline to run the activities of a separate GI unit.
"It was a long standing demand for formulation of the GI rules and we have finally formulated the draft law as it is very important to protect our traditional commodities," he said.
Mr Hossain said the draft rules would be finalised after two meetings and anyone could give opinion on the rules until July 17 which has been posted in the MoI website.
He said a completed GI unit would be opened after finalisation of the rules.
Mr Hossain said the law would protect the country's claims to commodities such as hilsa fish, Jamdani sari, Nakshi Kantha, pineapple, fazli mango and some other traditional products.
He said the MoI is emphasising on implementation of the law promptly as neighbouring countries have been making many traditional Bangladeshi products by claiming those to be theirs because of the absence of such a law.
Parliament passed the GI act on November 5 last which was transformed as a law after singing by the President on November 10.
The law has been passed in compliance with article 22 of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, Mr Hossain added.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya at a dialogue recently urged the government to formulate the GI rules as soon as possible.
"We are still lagging behind other countries, including India, to claim our ownership of any traditional item. The government should take necessary initiatives shortly to protect our cultural and historically important items," he said.
GI is a name or sign used on certain products to certify that those possess certain qualities as these are made as per traditional methods or the products enjoy a certain reputation due to geographical origin.
According the law, the real producer of any particular goods in an area will get the absolute rights of their registered products.
For instance, if the Jamdani sari can be registered locally under the GI Law, no other country can export any clothing item with the Jamdani name to Bangladesh.
The law will also ensure the patent rights of area-specific products such as kachagolla of Natore, roshmalai of Comilla, chomchom of Porabari in Tangail, monda of Muktagachha in Mymensingh, tea from Sylhet and honey from the Sundarbans.
DPDT registrar said to register a product, an association or a co-operative society will have to apply; no individual can register a product.
Upon receiving the application, The DPDT registrar will issue a circular to find out whether any other trade body or association objects to the registration.
If any organisation wants to oppose the listing, it will have to place a complaint with the GI unit within 60 days from the date of the circular. The registration will be valid for five years with an option to renew in every three years, he added.
According to the law, if persons or associations that are not the real owners of the GI goods and try to get the certificate, they will be punished with a maximum of three years' imprisonment and/or a fine of Tk 0.2 million. The same punishment will be applicable for any misuse of the law.
