Tirupati laddu gets GI tag

The office of the Registrar of Patents, Trademarks and Geographical Indications, India, has awarded the status of a Registered Geographical Indication to “Tirupati laddu”, the famous sweet enriched with dried fruits and nuts, given to millions of pilgrims as “prasada” from the sacred kitchen within the Tirupati temple premises on the Tirumala hills.

The GI registration was facilitated by CII’S Andhra Pradesh Technology Development and Promotion Centre (APTDC).

The Tirupati Tirumala Devastanam (TTD) had sought the registration to safeguard the Intellectual Property pertaining to the “laddu.”  The APTDC said several entities, from small time miscreants to large well known sweet outlets, have been selling the sweet calling it “Tirupati-like” laddu, thus obtaining an evident mileage by adding the name of Tirupati.

For this reason, the TTD, the registered proprietor of the Geographical Indication, filed a suit in Madras High Court against one such entity in Chennai, which was making and selling laddus in the name and style of the original.

 Upon hearing the initial arguments of counsel appearing for the registered proprietor, the Court was pleased to grant ex parte interim injunction, restraining the defendant from preparing, selling and making available to the public laddus in the name and style or anything deceptively similar to “Tirupati laddu”.

When the matter came up on February 25, 2014, the situation was explained to the court, req­u­esting the suit to be decreed in the most expeditious mann­er.