Ralph Lauren to Fendi: Why Indian crafts are easy to borrow, hard to protect, Pg9

Key Highlights:

• Luxury fashion brands like Ralph Lauren and Fendi have been accused of cultural misappropriation of Indian crafts, such as aari/zardozi embroidery and mirror-work, without proper attribution or credit.
• This issue highlights the challenge of protecting traditional Indian crafts, which often lack clear legal ownership despite their cultural provenance.
• Geographical Indication (GI) can protect the name and origin of a product but not necessarily every motif or technique associated with a craft.
• The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) adopted a new treaty in May 2024 to address intellectual property, genetic resources, and associated traditional knowledge.

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Detailed Insights:

• The core problem lies in the contradiction between intellectual property being territorial and culture being non-territorial, making cross-border protection difficult.
• Traditional crafts, evolving over generations within communities, do not fit neatly into conventional IP categories like patents or copyrights.
• Experts suggest the need for "representational custodianship," where communities sustaining the tradition have a meaningful role in commercial use decisions.
• While India's GI Act allows registered proprietors and authorized users to seek relief for infringement, practical capacity for communities to exercise these rights is often limited.
• Cross-border litigation for IP infringement is resource-intensive, necessitating formal mechanisms for collective legal identity, documented provenance, and benefit-sharing.
• A carefully maintained digital registry could document motifs, techniques, and custodial communities, making it harder for companies to claim original creation.
• There is a significant power imbalance between multinational corporations and craft communities, making enforcement of rights challenging.
• The government's role is crucial in facilitating registration, recognition, and enforcement, while ownership should remain with the community.
• The newly adopted WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge establishes disclosure requirements for patent applicants using genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Intellectual Property (IP): Legal rights granted to creators over their original works, including inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, and symbols.
• Geographical Indication (GI): A sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation due to that origin.
• World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO): A specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to developing a balanced international IP system.
• Berne Convention: An international agreement governing copyright, which protects literary and artistic works.