Receiving GI patent no help for Pashmina in critical times
20 Mar '09
1 min read
Last year, in September, after a protracted litigation, the Kashmiri Pashmina received the Geographical Indications of Goods patent, which is akin to a intellectual property rights. But the benefits that were supposed to accrue from the patent, have been washed away due to the global economic turmoil.
The Kashmiri Pashmina is facing the same troubles, which is being faced by another traditional industry of the Kashmir valley; carpets. As it is the Pashmina was facing troubles due to the prevalence of fakes which was decimating the original, as the customers are not able to distinguish between an original and fake Pashmina.
In the way that droves of craftsmen are leaving the carpet manufacturing industry for better pastures, the Pashmina industry is also feeling the same pangs, as traditional weavers are deserting the trade as income has gone down drastically, more so to do with the recessionary trends prevailing in global markets.