Idu Mishmi textiles GI certificate handed over to IMCLS

Workshop on IPR&GI held

[ Karyir Riba ]

ROING, Nov 29: A workshop on ‘the significance of intellectual property rights and geographical indication (IPR&GI)’ was organized here in Lower Dibang Valley district on Friday as a follow-up to the geographical indication (GI) tagging that the Idu Mishmi community obtained for its textiles recently.
The certificate of the Idu Mishmi textiles GI registration was handed over to the community during the event.
The Idu Mishmi Cultural and Literary Society’s (IMCLS) intellectual property rights sub-committee chairman, Dr Aba Pulu, said the aim of obtaining the GI tag for the Idu Mishmi textiles “was to authenticate the owners of the designs and
the motifs of their textiles, in order to promote weaving among the young generation.”
Narrating the hardships faced prior to obtaining the GI tag, Dr Pulu said “this was the first GI tagging in the country which was funded by the community, without any financial support from the government.”
He commended the IMCLS, led by its president Ginko Linggi, and the community for collectively sponsoring the project.
The industry & internal trade department’s IPR Promotion Cell Assistant Manager, Subham Istrewal, Bangalore-based consultant Vivek Anand Sagar, and IMCLS advisor Nandini Dholepat spoke about marketing strategies for the Idu Mishmi textiles. They explained copyright, trademark, GI, design, patent, and trade secrets. They also spoke about how the community could benefit from the GI tagging.
IMCLS general secretary Rao Dele also spoke.
“We should be thankful to our ancestors too for developing such intriguing techniques of textile-making. It is our duty to preserve them,” he said.
The workshop was organized jointly by the IMCLS, the RIWATCH, the Karnataka State Council for Science & Technology, the GI registry, and the CIPAM.
More than 200 women from the community benefitted from the workshop. Members of the All Idu Mishmi Students’ Union and other prominent members of the community also attended the programme.