Open Access Research Article
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIA, THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Abstract
Geographical indications sit in an odd corner of intellectual property law. They do not reward a single inventor or author, as a patent or a copyright does; instead, they protect the reputation a place has built up, over generations, through the people who work its land, its coastline or its workshops. This article looks at how three very different legal systems have chosen to protect that reputation. India relies on a dedicated statute, the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, administered through a public register. The European Union runs a more centralised, harmonised version of the same idea, now consolidated in Regulation (EU) 2024/1143. The United States, by contrast, has never enacted a separate GI law at all, and instead folds geographical indications into its ordinary trademark system under the Lanham Act, largely through certification and collective marks. The article traces the statutory architecture, registration practice, statistics and case law of each system, before comparing them across several practical dimensions: who can apply, what standard of proof is required, how strong the resulting right is, and how disputes actually get resolved. It closes by examining a handful of recurring flashpoints — the long transatlantic argument over “generic” cheese names, the India–Pakistan dispute over Basmati rice, and the newer problem of policing GI misuse on online marketplaces — and offers a short set of practical recommendations.
Published Paper
Author Details
Authors: RAQUIBUR RAHMAN.HRegistration ID: 1013511 | Published Paper ID: IJLRA13511Approved ISSN: 2582-6433 | Country: Delhi, India
Article Information
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIA, THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Authors: RAQUIBUR RAHMAN.H
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Volume 3
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- AbbreviationIJLRA
- ISSN2582-6433
- AccessOpen Access
- LicenseCC 4.0
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