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India wins partial victory over RiceTec on 'Basmati patent'

This follows a re-examination of a suit filed by Agriculture Produce Export Development Authority in the United States Patent and Trademark Office in June this year contesting the claims of RiceTec that its rice grains had unique characteristics similar to Indian Basmati, an APEDA release said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

RiceTec had obtained a patent for 'Basmati Rice Lines and Grains', which it said was superior to the Indian Basmati rice.

APEDA said that had the patenting claims not been withdrawn, it would have affected the commercial interest of Basmati rice exports.

APEDA's request for re-examination to the US Patent Office included evidence that Basmati rice grain produced in India since long, prior to the date of the patent, had the characteristics which were claimed unique by RiceTec, it said.

The release also said that APEDA would not allow any attempts to misappropriate the rights of India over Basmati. "India's prized geographical indications and intellectual property rights are not up for grabs,'' it added.

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