Do media need urgent training on intellectual property rights? Yes, because its representatives exhibited intellectual poverty in reporting a Intellectual property rights related news item that Tirupathi Laddu has secured registration as Geographical Indication.  Some newspapers described it as ‘global patent’ (which does not exist) other scribes of web newspapers called it ‘copyright’ (Goods cannot be copyrighted) and some others as a mark, confusing their readers with their bankruptcy and wrongs.  Here are some examples: Indian Express on 29th March rightly reported saying ‘GI status for Laddu’, but Zeenews stated Tirupathi Laddu is going‘..to get patent right’ (8th June). Newsonweb on 15th September says ‘TTD gets Copyright in Laddu”, Times of India (16th September) described it as global patent, ndtv (15th Sept) did not hesitate to say ‘….gets geographical copyright’, livemint said ‘patented offering’ (19th September) and happyhyderabad website wrote ‘copyright reserved for Tirupathi Laddu brand’. Some media called it just ‘ipr right’.

The hollowness and peripheral reporting increased in these days in the media, which is further manifested in reports about Laddu. It is pathetic that reporters did not bother to verify their knowledge (or lack of it).  In fact, the journalists should have further probed, without confining to mere press notes and announcements, to tell the readers how society is benefitted by converting sacred prasadam into commercial food goods.  Why TTD got the GI, how much it has spent on securing the registration as Geographical Indication, who will benefit out of it, were unfortunately nobody’s questions.  It is astonishing that the journalists did not have even a common man’s curiosity to know these details, and criticized that they reduced themselves into just ‘reporters’ to what ever is supplied or told to them. A little questioning by any media member could have revealed the truth as to how futile it is to secure a commercial status to a divine prasadam.

The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams (TTD), trustees of world’ richest temple on Tirumala Hills must have spent lakhs of rupees (from people’s money) to secure Geographical (GI) Registration for Tirupathi Laddu, from Indian Patent Office, Chennai, recently, raising many eyebrows for its latest manifestation of brazen commercialization. Among the intellectual property rights, the patent is given for innovation with industrial application coupled with utility. Copyright generates the moment a creative expression is made. Trade mark emerges out of credible use of a mark over a period of time. While these Intellectual Property Rights –  patents and copyrights belong to individuals or some legal persons, the GI is  collective right which is intended to protect the artisans and other local labour who excel in making goods which are unique to that particular geographical region, drawing that merit to make the goods very special. The consumers also identify such goods with that geographical region and prefer to purchase that from that place or from the makers of that place alone. In GI, the collective right, the knowledge or intellect is in public domain, and rights are held in perpetuity. In case of GIs the right-holders’ rights are circumscribed, i.e., they cannot assign these rights to others but can prevent makers from other areas from selling their makes projecting that those are produced in that particular geographical areas.  These rights are required to be remained in specified territory so that the artisans in that area enjoy the exclusive commercial benefits.  The poor conditions of family, low wages, dwindling market, onslaught of competing goods, and disinterest of newer generations in continuing their ancestral business securing the quality of goods are some of the problems which do not allow the artisans to take benefit from GI rights. The suicides by artisans, weavers and other traditional artists are the indications of these sad ground realities, to whom the fruits of GI registration have never reached. If Pochampalli saree maker, or Mysore silk weaver, or Kashmir shawl producer is protected by state from multimillionaire mill owners’ commercial invasions, the purpose and objective of GI law would be properly served. Are we doing it? All those Tirupathi Laddu makers are regular workers of the TTD, who never get any share in profits out of selling Laddus. TTD is sole the producer and sole beneficiary of the Laddu making and sales. If not for devotees, artisans, skilled cooks, why this divine indication- the Tirupathi Laddu Prasadam is being converted into commercial indication through this Geographical indication? Why anyone from media does not raise this question?

Is Laddu a commercial food product?

For millions of devotees Sri Vari Laddu is sacred ‘prasadam’, which means the food offered to deity of Sri Venkateswara in the sanctum sanctorum and then distributed among devotees.  Laddus, Vadas and several other food items are made for Naivedyam, the offerings to Lord with divine chanting of temple bells and recitation of mantras.  TTD in its application stated that the ‘laddu gets its reputation not from its taste alone but from its sanctity’. In fact it is other way round, it gets its reputation only from its sanctity and not from its taste.

For TTD, Lord’s ‘laddu’ is just a food article that brings in millions of rupees.  Presently laddus are made in the main potu called ‘Srivari Potu’ (kitchen of the Lord), from which about 130 laddu workers produce about One Lakh laddus per day. There is also an additional potu with about 60 contract workers who make only small laddu. The potus have firewood ovens and are also equipped with gas stoves with gas cylinders. In total about 1.25 lakh Tirupathi laddus are prepared every day. There is a crane to transport the grocery to the potu. (As described in the application by TTD to Geographical Indications Registration Office, Chennai). TTD made 10 million dollars in 2007 out of sale of Laddus, as per wikipedia report. TTD application for GI published in Geographical Indication Journal No. 28 at page 38 states that cost of small Laddu is Rs.25 and big laddu, Rs.100. Around 70,000 pilgrims visit Tirumala everyday and almost every one purchases laddus, which might fetch a turn over of Rs. 17 to 70 lakh a day. Everything including the Lord, offerings to Him, songs in His praise, human hair from tonsure, or even the chance of a glance at Sri Varu, is a source of income for TTD.

The insatiable quest for income of TTD is glaring. Laddu as GI has tremendous publicity value, but sans any real value or offers any protection to it as unique product, because never there was a threat of duplication. Except on Tirumala Hills, this Prasadam which is sanctified with offering to God, is available nowhere, not because it is impossible to prepare, but the one and only Lord is believed to be incarnated only on these Seven Sacred Hills. TTD could establish many Kalyana mantapams and even Balaji temples at different places in India and abroad, but it is not possible to establish branches or sales representatives of the Lord the Great. (Though the Geographical Indication registration recently granted to it gives monopoly to it, TTD also cannot sell the Laddus in its ‘branch’ offices also).  Except TTD’s cooks in Sri Vari Potu, part of main temple on Tirumala, nowhere Laddus are made. Even if others make Laddus, they cannot enter Sanctum Santorum to give those Laddus for Naivedyam. Sanctity is the unique feature of Laddu, more than its taste, and the law does not prescribe any provision for giving GI status for that religious sanctity.

Literally, ‘Tirupathi’ is a Tamil word which mean Husband of Lakshmi (Thiru = Shree = Lakshmi, Pathi = Husband), who is Lord Vishnu. Can TTD stop any temple of Vishnu from making, offering and selling of Laddus enforcing this GI? Answer is ‘no’. It can only stop any national or multinational marketing company selling sweet called Laddu as Tirupathi Laddu, which threat is not foreseen at all. In fact, it is not Tirpuathi Laddu but Tirumala Laddu, because laddu is not made in Tirupathi town but in Tirumala hills within the temple alone. Tirumala means the ‘Shree Hills’. It is Shree Vari Prasadam made in Tirumala Temple, called Tirupathi Laddu. TTD got GI with the name ‘Tirupathi Laddu’.  Can TTD stop anybody from making laddus elsewhere and sell them as Tirumala Laddus after offering to Sri Venkateswara in local temple calling Balaji Laddu or Tirupathi Balaji Laddu?  Strangely, the other unique prasadam of Tirumala ‘Vada’ is not thought fit to secure GI. Does it mean that any body can make Tirupathi Vada and sell?

TTD’s GI for Laddu might open up possibility of applications from high income yielding temples such as Sabarimalai of Ayyappa, for ‘aravana payasam’ (‘payasam’ is rise-based sweet porridge) and ‘appam’, Mookambika Temple for its ‘tirumadhuram’, or Sri Krishna Temple of Alleppey for their Palapayasam (milk made sweet porridge with ghee and rice) and several other temples in India for Geographical Indications.

As the media failed to address these issues, the devotees have to pray Lord Venkateswara that no IPR expert law firm would advise, for a fat fee of course, to register Copyright in the design of cloths, jewelry, crown or the very divine beautiful form of Lord’s deity, or Trade mark for its logo with Anandanilaya Vimanam, so on and so forth.