case study on geographical indication of darjelling tea

1. JURISPRUDENCE & Intellectual
Property Rights
PROTECTING THE GEOGRAPHICAL
INDICATION FOR Darjeeling Tea
Presented by:-
Prakhar agarwal
B.Pharm 2nd
year
1301450033

2. Introduction
• Darjeeling – a district of West
Bengal, India.
• Since about 1835, tea has been
cultivated, grown and produced in
the State.
• The tea produced in this region
has a distinctive quality and flavor.
• It has long been known to the
trade and the public in India and
abroad as Darjeeling Tea.
• It has acquired domestic and
international reputation.

3. Present Scenario
• 86 running gardens producing
‘Darjeeling Tea’ on a total area of
19,000 hectares.
• Total production - 10 to 11 million
kilograms annually.
• 52 thousand people working on a
permanent basis
• 15,000 persons are engaged
during the plucking season which
lasts from March to November.
• Work force consists of 60 percent
women.

4. Manufacturing
Plucking
Sorting &
Packing
Drying
Fermentation
Withering Rolling

5. Plucking
• The smallest shoots, comprising
of two leaves and a bud are
plucked. It requires 22,000 such
shoots, all plucked by hand - to
produce 1 Kg. of Tea. In attaining
this high plucking standard, the
hilly terrain, makes the task even
more difficult.
• The special Darjeeling flavors is
generated from the very fine
plucking standard.

6. Withering
• During this process, the
green leaves are evenly
spread on troughs, through
which hot & cold air are
blown in a regulated
manner.
• The object is to remove
moisture in the leaf slowly
over a period of 14 - 16
hours.

7. Rolling
• The withered leaves are loaded
into rollers where they are
twisted by a mechanical action.
• The process is carefully
monitored so that the style of
the leaf is maintained and
overheating does not take
place.

8. Fermentation
• After Rolling, the leaf is spread in a cool & humid room in very thin
layers.
• The process lasts between 2- 4 hours, depending on temperature,
humidity and leaf quality.
• During the process the tea develops a unique flavour and aroma.
The Tea Makers sensory judgment is critical to quality of the liquor.

9. Drying
• The fermented leaf is taken to a
dryer, where it is subjected to
regulated varying temperature
for a period of 20 - 30 min.
• The result is black tea whose
moisture has been lost after
natural fermentation is
checked.

10. Sorting and Packing
• This is the final stage, where
the tea is graded according to
the size and packed in
specially designed foil lined
packages.

11. • Tasting is done by special
tasters to differentiate and
bring out the best one.
• Selling is done through
auction system. The
auctioneer decides the
selling price of the Tea.
Tasting and Selling

12. Legal Aspects

13. Tea Board of India
• All teas produced in the tea growing areas of India are administered
by the Tea Board of India under the Tea Act, 1953.
• It is not involved in the manufacture of any product.
• Its functions are
– to regulate the production and cultivation of Indian tea
– to improve the quality of Indian tea
– to improve the marketing of Indian tea within India and abroad

14. Intellectual properties of Tea Board of India
• The objective of the Tea Board, under the Darjeeling Certification
Trade Mark Protection Scheme, is to put in place a mechanism to
ensure the supply chain integrity for DARJEELING tea.
• three above marks are widely known as Specialty Tea Logos or
Certificate Trade Marks.
• The CTM Logos have been registered under Trademark Laws of
various international jurisdictions.

15. Geographical Indication
• A GI is a name, sign used on goods to indicate and certify that these
originate from a specific geographical origin and possess certain
characteristics, qualities, or reputation that are essentially
attributable to the stated geographical origin.
• Darjeeling tea has a distinctive and naturally occurring quality and
flavor which has won accolades all over the world.
• Tea Board is the owner of all intellectual property rights (IPR) in the
Darjeeling word and logo, both in common law and under the
provisions of the Trade Marks Act 1999, Geographical Indications of
Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 and Copyright Act,
1957.

16. Certification Trade Mark
• Trade mark indicates trade origin. It serves the purpose of
distinguishing the goods of one trader from those of other traders.
• A certification trade mark(CTM) is to indicate that the goods on
which it is impressed have been certified by some competent
person in respect of some characteristic of the goods like origin,
composition, mode of manufacture, or quality.
• Three main features of CTM:
• it must be adapted to serve the special purpose.
• the person certifying the goods as to any particular quality or
characteristic or origin must be competent for the purpose.
• the use of such mark must be regulated by suitably framed
rules to prevent its abuse.

17. Darjeeling Tea Logo
• The logo consists of the word
DARJEELING and a representation
of an Indian woman holding tea
leaves, all arranged in a roundel.
• In its aesthetic combination of the
word DARJEELING with the
woman device, the DARJEELING
logo created by the Tea Board has
made Darjeeling tea a geographical
indication for a uniquely flavored
tea coming from the district of
Darjeeling in India.

18. Darjeeling Tea Logo
• The said DARJEELING logo has been extensively used by all
producers, packeteers and exporters of Darjeeling tea, under
license and authority of the Tea Board.
• The Tea Board will license persons who wish to use the Certification
Marks ("authorized users") if it is satisfied that those persons will
only use the Marks in relation to tea conforming to appropriate
standards and coming from the Darjeeling area.

19. Steps taken in order to protect Darjeeling
tea under TRIPS
• In 1998, World Wide Watch agency CompuMark was appointed to
monitor conflicting marks. Instances of attempted registration were
found, some of which were challenged through opposition and
cancellations and sometimes negotiations. Of the 15 instances, 5
have been successfully concluded in countries such as Japan,
Srilanka, Russia etc. 6 oppositions were unsuccessful and 4 are still
pending decision Use by BULGARI, Switzerland of the legend “
Darjeeling Tea fragrance for men” agreed to be withdrawn pursuant
to legal notice and negotiations.
• The Indian Geographical Indication of Goods (Registration &
Protection) Act 1999 is a specific Act covering the registration and
protection of Geographical Indications. After the Act came into force
on 15th Sept.03, the Tea Board has filed an application for
registration of Darjeeling tea as a “GI”.

20. Steps taken in order to protect Darjeeling
tea under TRIPS
• The Tea Board of India started working hard on necessary steps in
1997. Already in 1986 the Darjeeling logo was created and
registered in U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Japan, Egypt and under Madrid,
covering eight countries.
• The Tea Board has obtained “home protection” by registering a
Darjeeling logo and also the word “Darjeeling” as a Certification
Trade Mark under the Indian Trade and Merchandise Marks Act,
1958.
• Denton Wilde Sapte, a major U.K. law firm, appointed by the Tea
Board to advise on administration of Darjeeling certification system
worldwide Awareness generation at all IPR forums, WIPO
conventions.

21. REFERENCES
• Websites referred:
• jpn.cec.eu.int
• www.economictimes.indiatimes.com
• www.kyelateas.com
• www.agarmettea.com
• pib.nic.in