The Reliance Industries Limited has recently been reported to have abandoned its application to register its Jamnagar Petrol as a GI. The applications in respect of five products, viz. Reliance Jamnagar petrol, Reliance Jamnagar diesel, Reliance Jamnagar LPG, Reliance Jamnagar fuel and Krishna Godavari gas were filed in 2005 and advertised in the GI Journal, against which 4 oppositions were reported to have been filed. The GI status for the products with Jamnagar prefix was sought for the geographical areas of Gujarat, whereas the tag for Krishna Godavari Gas was for Andhra Pradesh. Since the prosecution was not followed up with, the applications were treated as abandoned.

The GI Registry functions under the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks, and the Controller functions as the Registrar of the GI Registry. The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (The Act) provides protection to goods and services that are representative of a particular region or area and have been known so for the unique qualities they endorse. Section 2(e) of the Act defines a Geographical Indication as: “an indication which identifies such goods as agricultural goods, natural goods or manufactured goods as originating, or manufactured in the territory of country or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristics of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and in case where such goods are manufactured goods one of the activities of either the production or of processing or preparation of the goods concerned takes place in such territory, region or locality, as the case may be.”

The explanation attached to the section says that “any name which is not the name of a country, region or locality of that country shall also be considered as the geographical indication if it relates to a specific geographical area and is used upon or in relation to particular goods originating from that country, region or locality, as the case may be.

Considering the above requirement, it is unclear how the petrol or diesel being produced at the Jamnagar refinery represented certain unique characteristics specific to Jamnagar, which are not present in fuel extracted from other places. According to the law, such characteristics might be naturally present or introduced in the product through a method or art specific to the region or people residing therein and are reputed as such the world over. Hence, it does not, in the first case, qualify to be a protectible GI.

Moreover, there is a requirement under Section 11 (1) of the Act that the application for registration of a GI shall be made by any association of persons or producers representing their interest, who are desirous of registering a geographical indication in relation to their products. In the present case, Reliance is a corporation producing the fuel to market it and does not represent the interests of any association of persons. This is another reason; it does not qualify to apply for the GI protection.

The GI tag provides legal protection to such products against their unauthorised use by other countries or producers. As an economic benefit, GI acts as a mark of authenticity and quality. This factor plays a role in enhancing exports and revenues. A wide variety of products in India like Darjeeling tea, Kancheepuram silks, Chanderi silk sarees, Alphonso mangoes, Basmati rice, Kohlapuri sandals, Bikaneri Namkin, Himachal and Kashmir apples etc. have been granted the GI certification.