B'desh Jamdani ownership hijack attempt draws flak
Experts liken Indian claim to patent rule violation
Speakers at a dialogue in the city Tuesday urged the government to take immediate steps for ensuring the country's ownership and patent rights of traditional items like Jamdani.
They emphasised formation of Geographical Indication (GI) rules according to the law and setting up a separate unit to help protect the ownership of traditional items from other countries.
"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," said Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Distinguished Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya.
He also said like some other traditional items Jamdani is solely a Bangladeshi item and it is not a generic one.
CPD and National Craft Council of Bangladesh (NCCB) jointly organised the dialogue on "Protecting Geographic Indication Products in the Context of Bangladesh and Way Forward".
Barrister Sarwat Siraj Shukla said there is no visible sign to formulate necessary regulations to enact the GI Law 2013, though it is much needed to claim patent rights of any traditional item.
"India had already applied for the ownership of Jamdani although it is a Bangladeshi item. We are ready to fight it legally, if needed, to protect our items."
She said ensuring ownership of traditional items is very needed in the era of globalisation.
Dr Iftekhar Iqbal, associate professor of Dhaka University, mentioned in his presentation that considering all historical, geographical, commercial and cultural contexts of Jamdani, Dhaka was and still is its only true centre of production.
"Jamdani has to be a unique name, whose geographical location indicator must be Dhaka, but not Dhakai Jamdani. In other words, Dhaka and Jamdai are synonymous. So, India's registration of Jamdani under its GI law is illegal and a violation of existing TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) regulation."
He mentioned that India registered Jamdani as 'Uppada Jamdani Sarees' from Andhra Pradesh in 2009. However, research suggests that there is no combination of geographical, ecological, historical or commercial conditions elsewhere in the world for Jamdani, except Dhaka.
GI is a name or sign used on certain products to certify that they possess certain qualities, as they are made according to traditional methods or enjoy a certain reputation due to their geographical origins.
According to the GI law, the real producer of any particular goods in an area will get the absolute rights of the registered products.
If jamdani sari is registered locally under the law, no other country will export any clothing item with the name jamdani to Bangladesh.
The law will also ensure the patent rights of various 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.
Dhaka University professor Dr Masuda M Rashid Chowdhury, rights activist Hamida Hossain, NCCB president Monira Emdad and secretary Shahid Hossain Shamim, and designer Bibi Rasel also spoke at the dialogue.
B'desh Jamdani ownership hijack attempt draws flak | TRADE & MARKET | Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
