Does Jamnagar diesel equal Basmati?
Last year, Reliance Industries Ltd. had filed a geographical indications (GI) application for its Krishna-Godavari gas and Jamnagar petroleum products, despite the fact that the products are not characteristically attributable to geography. Varupi Jain finds that if RIL is granted the GI, it will gain exclusive benefits that it has no rightful claim over. 15 July 2006 – Late last year, Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) filed a geographical indications (GI) application for its Krishna-Godavari gas and Jamnagar petrol, diesel and LPG. The application sought authorised usage of the name “Jamnagar LPG, Oil, Petrol and Diesel”. The Office of the Chennai-based Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, which is the national registrar of GIs, examined and approved RIL’s application. Approval was subsequently notified through the GI journal. The GI Journal is a publication of the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, in which all GIs approved by the government are notified, follo
