A patenting case study on Basmati Rice

1. A Patenting Case Study on Basmati Rice
M.Tech CSE
Sahrdaya College of Engineering and Technology, Kodakara
November 7,2019
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2. Overview
1 Intellectual Property
2 Intellectual Property Rights
3 Our Patenting Case Study
4 Basmati Rice Patent Case
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3. Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property (IP) refers to creations of mind such as
inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, name, images,
and designs used in commerce.
Intellectual Property Right(IPR) can be defined as the rights given
to people over the creation of their minds. They usually give them an
exclusive right over the use of their creations over a certain period of
time.
Different types of intellectual property rights are there :
1 TrademarksTM
2 Patent
3 Copyrights c
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4. Intellectual Property Rights
TrademarksTM: A trademark is a visual symbol that individualizes
the goods of a given enterprise and distinguishes them from the
goods of others. It can be in the form of words, designs, letters or
numerals etc.
Patent: A patent is a grant for an invention by the Government to
the inventor in exchange for full disclosure of the invention to make
use of and exploit their inventions for a limited period of time.
Copyrights c : Copyright deals with the protection of literary and
artistic works. These include writings, music, and works of the fine
arts, such as paintings and sculptures, and technology-based works
such as computer programs and electronic databases.
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5. Our Patenting Case Study
Basmati Rice Patent
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6. Basmati Rice and Asia
Rice is an important aspect of life in the Southeast and other parts of
Asia.
For centuries, it has been the cornerstone of their food and culture.
Basmati has been grown in the foothills of the Himalayas for
thousands of years.
Basmati rice is being grown in subcontinent for centuries.
Its flavour and aroma has been developed through selective breeding
for thousands of years.
It is a common knowledge that what Basmati is to subcontinent
(Pakistan and India).
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7. Basmati Rice
Basmati means the “queen of fragrance or the perfumed one”.
Origin: Pakistan and India
Indian varieties are Safidon, Haryana, Kasturi (Baran, Rajasthan),
Basmati 198, Basmati 217, Basmati 370, Kasturi, Mahi Suganda.
Pakistani varieties Basmati 370, Super Basmati, Pak (Kernal)
Basmati, Basmati 386, Basmati 385 and Basmati 198.
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8. Basmati Rice Patent Case Issue
In late 1997, an American company RiceTec Inc, was granted a
patent by the US patent office to call the aromatic rice grown outside
India as ’Basmati’; India objected to it.
India has been one of the major exporters of Basmati to several
countries and such a grant by the US patent office was likely to affect
its trade.
Since Basmati rice is traditionally grown in India and Pakistan, it was
believed that granting patent to RiceTec violated the Geographical
Indications Act.
A geographical indication (sometimes abbreviated to GI) is a name or
sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific
geographical location or origin (e.g.. a town, region, or country).
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9. RiceTec’s usage of the name Basmati for rice, which was derived from
Indian rice but not grown in India, and hence not of the same quality
as Basmati, would have lead to the violation of the concept of GI and
would have been a deception to the consumers.
But RiceTec claimed that the Starch index (SI) of their product is
different from Indian Basmati Rice.
RiceTec Inc, had been trying to enter the international Basmati
market with brands like ’Kashmati’ and ’Texmati’ described as
Basmati-type rice with minimal success.
However, with the Basmati patent rights, RiceTec will now be able to
not only call its aromatic rice Basmati within the US, but also label it
Basmati for its exports.)
In addition, the patent on Basmati is believed to be a violation of the
fundamental fact that the long grain aromatic rice grown only in
Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh is called Basmati..”
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10. Case Details
CASE NUMBER: 493
CASE MNEMONIC: Basmati
CASE NAME: India-US Basmati Rice Dispute
Patent number: US5663484 A
Publication type: Grant
Application number: US 08/272,353
Publication date: Sep 2, 1997
Filing date: Jul 8, 1994
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11. RiceTec Company Details
Owned by Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein.
120 company employees.
Annual sales 10 million US Dollars.
Rice developed by RiceTec are: Bas 867, RT 1117, RT 112.
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12. Company’s Words
“We are absolutely confident in our patent and viability and
legality. There is no basis for challenging the patent”.
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13. Facts of the case
RiceTec Inc has earlier tried to enter the market.
Their two main brands of rice were:
Texmati.
Kashmati.
Whether the term ‘Basmati’ is a generic one to describe aromatic
rice, or does it refer specifically to the long aromatic rice grown in
India and Pakistan?
Whether US government’s decision to grant a patent for the prized
Basmati rice violates the International Treaty on Trade Related
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)?
Whether the Basmati patent should be revoked in the light of
protests from India?
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14. Result
RiceTec Inc. took back 15 claims out of 20
They also took back its claim on the name “Basmati”.
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