Intellectual Property Rights Licensing Case Studies

Intellectual Property Rights Licensing Case Studies3. In October 2004, Darjeeling was granted the GI status in India to become the first application to be registered in India as a GI.

Enforcement Steps Taken by The Tea Board of India

In order to prevent the misuse of ‘Darjeeling' and the logo, the Tea Board has since 1998 hired the services of Compumark, a World Wide Watch agency. Compumark is required to monitor and report to the Tea Board all cases of unauthorized use and attempted registration68. Pursuant to Compumark's appointment, several cases of attempted registrations and unauthorized use of

‘Darjeeling' and Darjeeling Logo have been reported. The tea board tried to prevent unauthorized use or attempt or actual registration of Darjeeling word/ logo that were brought to its notice. [Refer Annexure B] Some disputes relating to Darjeeling tea have been settled through negotiations undertaken by the tea board of India with the foreign companieslxix. For example Bulgari, Switzerland agreed to withdraw the legend ‘Darjeeling Tea fragrance for men' pursuant to legal notice and negotiations by the Tea Board. The Tea Board has fought almost 15 cases in

the last four years against infringement and misuse of the word Darjeeling Tea worldwide