Sabah Tea, Sarawak Pepper and Bario Rice

Sabah Tea, Sarawak Pepper and Bario Rice, together with Borneo Virgin Coconut Oil, Sabah Seaweed, Tenom Coffee and Buah Limau Bali Sungai Gedung, stand as the sole seven registered Geographical Indications in Malaysia (as of 2009).

Geographical Indications (GI's) are one of the least known Intellectual Property Rights in Malaysia. Perhaps that is the reason behind the small number of protected GI's.

In Malaysia, GI's are governed by the Geographical Indications Act 2000. According to the Act, GI means an "indication which identifies any goods as originating in a country or territory, or a region or locality in that country or territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the goods is essentially attributable to their geographical origin". The Act allows the producer(s) of the products from the geographical area, a competent authority or a trade organization/association to apply for a GI registration.

Examples of famous GI's from Europe are Champagne for sparkling wine, Mozzarella cheese, Feta cheese, Tuscan olive oil, and Parma ham. GI's that Malaysians may be more familiar with could be Basmati rice, Ceylon tea, Assam tea, Darjeeling tea, Persian carpets, Thai silk and Kanjeepuram sarees.

There are a few difficulties that may arise from registering and developing a GI. For instance, reaching a consensus on the relevant region/area and the quality requirements of the products does not come easily (One might refer to the recent issue over the highly prized Puer tea between the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Guangdong) unlike trademarks which are usually held by one individual or entity. A GI is usually owned by a number of people. Fortunately, these difficulties can be resolved with a round of meetings between the producers of the product or by creating a board which will decide matters pertaining to the GI. In Malaysia, an example of a board that registered and monitors a GI would be the Pepper Marketing Board, a federal statutory body, which registered the GI "Sarawak Pepper" for pepper and pepper products originating from Sarawak (a state in East Malaysia).

GI's should be identified and protected because not only do they provide the ability for producers to market their products better and thereby increase their income, but GI's also encourage a high standard of quality of production and promote tourism in the relevant region.

Consumers these days are becoming more and more discerning of the products they buy and are willing to pay more for quality. GI's offer that guarantee of quality. In that sense, GI's are similar to well-known trademarks as they denote good quality of the products on which the GI or trademark is applied.

Unfortunately, the assurance of quality given by a GI encourages third parties who are not producers from the region to ride on the goodwill of the GI and to label their products as originating from the same region as the GI. Consequently the GI's value will be diluted and consumers will be deceived. Efforts should therefore be made by producers to protect their registered GI's. Strict legal action should be taken against third parties who have no right to use the GI's. It has to be noted nonetheless, that while registered GI's inherently offer a certain protection to the producers, GI is similar to intellectual properties such as trademarks and patents in that the protection is national or regional, not global. GI has to be sought in other countries (where there is a registration system) if one wants strong legal protection there for their GI. Otherwise, action against wrong users will be by way of the tort of passing off (if available in a particular country).

Kandiah P is the Managing Director of KASS International, an established intellectual property firm with offices in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. He has been practicing in the area of Intellectual Property Law since 1987 and has vast experience in assisting local and international clients in obtaining patents, trademarks and industrial design rights on a global scale, and also specializes in identifying patentable inventions, designing around patented technology, creating new products together with clients, and advising on the commercialisation of IP Rights.