| Law of Geographical Indications

The course aims to introduce students to the debates surrounding geographical indications (GI) and the developments pertaining to their protection in both international and domestic law, specifically with a South Asian focus.

The first part of the course would involve a study of the international law on the protection of GI and the hotly contested and mostly unresolved negotiations between the EU and USA focusing on the protection of wines and cheeses over the last three decades. Against this peculiar backdrop involving a North-North debate as opposed to the typical North-South debate that is common in intellectual property law, the second part of the course would move on to explore the usage of GI, particularly in India and a select few South Asian countries as a tool for preservation of culture and as a source of rural development. In doing so, the course would aim to unravel, through the analysis of the domestic laws and allied secondary literature, whether the protection regime that GI offers entail socio-economic development of the actual producers of GI goods.

The objective of the course is to sensitize students about the debates surrounding the protection of GI in the international stage and to aid them in deriving a better understanding of the role that protection of GI plays in developing economies. In particular, by acquainting themselves with various case studies from different jurisdictions of the global south, the students will be able to identify the issues and challenges surrounding the law of GI and assess whether its protection actually leads to protection of traditional knowledge, preservation of culture and socio economic development.