Tirupati laddoo gets copyright
01 Dec 2009
The Tirupati laddoo offered to devotees at the Lord Venkateswara temple in Andhra Pradesh has been awarded geographical copyright that bars others from naming, making or selling the sweetmeat preparation under the same name.
The Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the trust that administers the temple on the Tirumala Hills, had applied for Geographical Indication (GI) certification with the Chennai-based Geographical Indication Registry in March last year.
Popular items that have been granted GI tag world over include Champagne and Tequilla, and the procedure helps in preventing others from surreptitiously exploiting a brand name that has evolved over a period of time.
The GI status provides legal protection and facilitates for action in case of infringement. GIs are covered as an element of Intellectual Property Rights.
With the GI certificate for Tirupati laddoo now the laddoo is protected under law and nobody can copy it.
Under GI, the right to marketing a product is tied to a definite geographical territory and the manufactured goods should be produced or processed or prepared only in that territory.
