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How to secure our right over Jamdani

M S Siddiqui

26 June 2016

Many developing countries that witness with some frustration the use of their main traditional names by
foreign producers in foreign and national markets and that nonetheless can do little about it for lack of
protection within their own territories. One example, in Chile, are the producers of the Azapa olive ("aceituna
de Azapa", from the Azapa Valley), who have unsuccessfully tried to prevent producers in Bolivia and Peru to

use the Azapa indication, one reason being the lack of legal domestic protection for the said indication in Chile
in the first place.
These are Geographical Indication (GIs), the names of the places that product is grown, have the power to
invoke expectations and affect consumer behavior. The name of place come in the mind of consumers while
they talk about any product say the sweetmeat "Roshomalai" flash name of place Comilla. Bangladesh going to
lose own GI Jamdani since Jamdany has been registered by India under own law as "Upadda Jamdani" due to
lack of protection and wrong decision of the policy makers.
The history reveals that the Jamdani is a generic name originated from Sonargaon. From various historical
accounts, folklore and slokas, it may be assumed that very fine fabrics were available in Bengal as far back as
the first decade before Christ. Cotton fabrics like dukul and muslin did not develop in a day. Dukul textile
appears to have evolved into muslin. Jamdani designs and muslin developed simultaneously. The fine fabric
that used to be made at Mosul in Iraq was called mosuli or mosulin.
In his 9th century book Sril Silat-ut-Tawarikh the Arab geographer Solaiman mentions the fine fabric produced
in a state called Rumy, which according to many, is the old name of the territory now known as Bangladesh. In
the 14th century, Ibn Batuta profusely praised the quality of cotton textiles of Sonargaon. Towards the end of
the 16th century the English traveler Ralph Fitch and historian Abul Fazl also praised the muslin made at
Sonargaon. The fineness of muslin cloth used to depend usually on the art of making yarns. The most
appropriate time for making yarns was early morning as the air then carried the highest moisture. For making
yarns weavers needed taku, a bamboo basket, a shell and a stone cup.
The art of making Jamdani designs on fine fabric reached its zenith during Mughal rule. There were handlooms
in almost all villages of Dhaka district. Dhaka, Sonargaon, Dhamrai, Titabari, Jangalbari and Bajitpur were
famous for making superior quality Jamdani and muslin.
Traders from Europe, Iran, Armenia, as well as Mughal-Pathan traders used to deal in these fabrics. The
Mughal Emperor, the Nawab of Bengal and other aristocrats used to engage agents at Dhaka to buy high quality
muslin and Jamdani for their masters' use. According to a 1747 account of muslin export, fabrics worth Rs
550,000 were bought for the Emperor of Delhi, the Nawab of Bengal and the famous trader Jagat Sheth. The
same year European traders and companies bought muslin worth Rs 950,000.
According to James Wise, Dhaka muslin worth Rs 5 million was exported to England in 1787. James Taylor put
the figure at Rs 3 million. In 1807, the export came down to Rs 850,000 and the export completely stopped in
1817. Thereafter muslin used to go to Europe as personal imports.
Bangladesh is manufacturer and exporter of Jamdani to Delhi and other part of the world for few centuries.
India still importing Jamdani from Bangladesh. This is GI product of Bangladesh. This is part of our culture
and livelihood of many weavers in and around Dhaka. By this time, India has registered (uppada) Jamdani sari
as originating from Andhra Pradesh and exporting Jamdani throughout the world.
The experience in other regions may be lesson for Bangladesh. FETA is household name of cheese originated in
Greece but some producers in Denmark, Germany and France were also producing cheese under name of
GETA. In 1996, based on a survey conducted over 12,800 nationals of the European Union, the European
Commission concluded that the name "FETA" evoked a Greek origin among European consumers, and thus
registered the name "Feta" as a protected geographical indication to cover Feta cheese produced in Greece.

Denmark, Germany and France contested the decision, on the basis that Feta cheese had been produced and
legally marketed under the name "Feta" in their countries for a long time. The matter has been raised at
European Court of Justice and the final decision in 2005 was removing the right of any non-Greek producers to
use the name of FETA for cheese. This is now exclusive GI product of Greece.
The term GI was given a specific definition in Article 22.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, which is the one retained in
this paper: Geographical indications are indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a
Member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the
good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. Article 22.1 of the TRIPS Agreement. The TRIPS
Agreement internationalized the protection of GIs by promoting a standard definition of GIs and prescribing
certain minimum standards by which they must be legally protected throughout WTO member states.
Legal protection of the GI products are sought on grounds that a given quality, reputation or other
characteristic of the good is linked to its geographical origin. For example, "Bordeaux" is a GI for wine
originating from the region of Bordeaux in the south of France, where it has been produced since the eighth
century. Similarly, "Tequila" is a GI for liquor originating from the town of Tequila in the state of Jalisco,
Mexico, where the liquor has been produced for over 200 years. An USA Court said "Geographical indications
are similar to trademarks in that they function as source indicators. Producers use such designations to signify
the place from which a good originates. Geographical indications, however, are not trademarks; trademarks, for
example, Nike or Coke@, inform the consumer of the specific producer of a product."
There are cases in which terms that began as trademarks eventually became generic, naming the product, such
as 'PC', 'Rollerblades' and 'Thermos'. Personal Computer (PC) was a brand of company Apple now became a
name of product would be described as "a programmable electronic device for storing, manipulating and
retrieving data" (Landes & Posner), while a Dijon mustard would be described as a "pungent and spicy mustard
with a smooth, creamy texture that comes up to the nose (qui monte au nez)". GIs also faces similar issues, GI
becoming generic like Jamdani of Narayangonj. There is the opposite case of descriptive terms that eventually
acquired secondary meaning as brands, such as 'All Bran' and 'Holiday Inn' (Landes & Posner 2003).
A Generic brand/name cannot be trademarked at all under the Trade mark law. In fact; if a brand becomes a
generic name, trademark protection immediately ceases (Landes & Posner 2003). Although the same standard
usually applies to GIs with respect to trademarks and a generic GI can't be trademarked.
Bangladesh has enacted Geographical Indication Act 2013 and a rule has been issued after long time. It is
reported that Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) has applied to authority for
registering Jamdani as DHAKAI Jamdani and authority started process the registration of Jamdani as DHAKAI
Jamnani. This is "rare innovation" of some of the bureaucrats in our administration. This suicidal action will
supplement the action of India to get permanent right over Jamdani. Bangladesh should register Jamdani as
Generic name and start negotiation with India for legitimate right over Jamdani. It may even to WTO for
establish the right of Jamdani.
The definition is the subject matter was linked to existing definitions in the preceding multilateral treaties,
namely (1) the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property; (2) the Madrid Agreement for the
Repression of False or Deceptive Indications of Source on Goods; and (3) the Lisbon Agreement for the
Protection of Appellations of Origin or GI and their international registration.
These agreements truly do not provide protection for GIs in a simple manner, rather, all of these agreements

addressed particular needs, gaps, and challenges in cross-border trade in goods. There is a need for widespread
consensus that GIs are broader than the notion of appellations of origin or indications of source. Treaties such
as the Lisbon Agreement, which established protection for appellations of origin- a particular utility of GIsthrough means of a registration system, had not been particularly successful in terms of impact or widespread
adoption. The Madrid agreement also addressed a set of narrow problems of protection of GIs.
We have some more additional work of negotiation with India to establish right over our generics. A number of
countries have entered into various bilateral, multilateral and international arrangements to bolster the
protection of their GIs in foreign territories. For example, "Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee" is a GI, as it denotes
a qualitative link between the coffee and the Blue Mountains in Jamaica, where the coffee is grown. It is
protected in Jamaica and the USA as a certification mark and in the European Union (EU) as a protected
designation of origin (PDO). Under EU regulations, a PDO indicates that the quality and characteristics of the
product bearing the designation are due essentially or exclusively to a particular geographical environment and
that the product is produced, processed or prepared in that area. The European Commission has concluded
agreements with Albania, Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Macedonia, Mexico,
Montenegro, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States for protection of wines and spirits alone.
It is essentially through these bilateral agreements that the EU has been able to ensure the protection of its GIs
where these were registered as generic products under own law of the land. Bangladesh yet to complete the
registration Jamdani as generic. We may also negotiate to protect the right over GIs through bilateral, sub
regional and regional trade agreements like SAPTA. The registration authority and BSCIC should stop
registration of Jamdani as DHAKAI Jamdnai as nation cannot afford to lose our valuable national asset for
negligence of some of officials. Jamdani should registered as generic product.
The writer is a legal economist