Pakistan wins Basmati rice trademark case in Australia
A federal court rejects India's bid for exclusive rights to the Basmati name, protecting Pakistani growers and exporters
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (MNTV) — India’s attempt to secure exclusive use of the word “Basmati” for its rice has failed after Australia’s Federal Court dismissed an appeal by India’s agricultural export authority, APEDA, Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce said.
Basmati is a long-grain aromatic rice grown in both Pakistan and India, and the dispute centered on whether one country could claim exclusive rights to the name in export markets.
APEDA had sought to register “Basmati” as a certification trademark in Australia, but a delegate of the Australian trademark registrar rejected the application in December 2022, ruling the term could not be used to distinguish APEDA-certified rice from Basmati sold by other traders.
APEDA challenged that in the Federal Court and lost.
The registrar had already acknowledged that Basmati is cultivated in both countries and that Pakistani traders have a legitimate right to the term, and the court upheld those findings, the ministry said Wednesday.
It said the ruling protects the commercial and intellectual-property rights of Pakistani growers, millers, and exporters.
Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan called the outcome “an important achievement for Pakistan’s agricultural heritage, commercial interests and export identity.”
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