Geographical Indications- Need of a Registration System for Srilanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka is a developing country that possesses varieties of natural resources with great economic value. Many of them have grabbed the international market and they are main sources of foreign exchange for Sri Lanka. Geographical Indications (GI) like Ceylon Tea, Ceylon Cinnamon, Ratnapura Blue Gems and other spices play an important role among them. GIs receive less attention when compared with other Intellectual Property Rights such as Copy Rights, Patents, and Trademarks. Lack of professionalism among academics, practitioners, towards this area has become a major issue in the development of law relating to Geographical Indications & thus legislative innovations with regard to a registration system for GI attracted less public discussion. Ceylon Tea, which is known as ���??Black Gold���?? of Sri Lanka is a good example that has faced the pathetic result of not having adequate legislative provisions, particularly with regard to a registration system of Geographical Indications. Therefore this paper will discuss whether laws available in Sri Lanka to protect Geographical Indications in the domestic level and in the international level are at a satisfactory level. Finally this paper will suggest a registration system of GI should be implemented while emphasizing how successfully such system has been used in other jurisdictions. Author uses secondary resources such as Library Research and Internet inclusive of books, Journal Articles, Cases and other related statues as main sources of this Research. In addition author has interviewed stakeholders in the field in terms of its practical application in Sri Lanka. Furthermore a comparative study was done inclusive of USA and India by the author for the purpose of providing recommendations to Sri Lanka.