The Federal Court of Australia has dismissed an appeal filed by India’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) in the Basmati trademark case, upholding Pakistan’s longstanding position that Basmati is a geographical indication.
An official announcement issued here quoted the commerce ministry as welcoming the Federal Court of Australia’s decision dismissing APEDA’s appeal in the Basmati trade mark case. The court also ordered the APEDA to pay the respondent’s costs, as agreed or taxed.
The APEDA had applied to register the term “Basmati” as a certification trade mark for rice in Australia. The application was rejected by a Delegate of the Australian Registrar of Trade Marks on Dec 22, 2022 on the ground that the word Basmati could not distinguish rice certified by the APEDA from Basmati rice legitimately produced and marketed by other traders.
The APEDA subsequently challenged the decision before the Federal Court of Australia. The Registrar’s decision expressly recognised that Basmati rice is also grown in Pakistan and that Pakistani traders have an equally valid claim to use the term.
By dismissing APEDA’s appeal, the Federal Court has upheld these findings.
The outcome constitutes a significant victory for Pakistan’s position that Basmati originates from a historically recognised growing region spanning Pakistan and India, and that no single national authority can claim an exclusive right to the word Basmati to the exclusion of producers and exporters with an equally legitimate right to its use.
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