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Let's accept it - India has lost the Basmati battle

Illustration: Manoj Kureel

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has encroached on India's traditional knowledge base by describing RiceTec's rice strains as "superior" to Basmati, says Devinder Sharma

New Delhi, August 22

Notwithstanding the government's denial, the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) ruling that upholds the patent granted to the American food company, RiceTec, is in reality a "backdoor" patent on Basmati rice.

By patenting "similar or superior" Basmati grains outside India, RiceTec has succeeded in ending the subcontinent's monopoly over the scented rice. Basmati can no longer be considered an exotic product, unique to the specific climate and soil conditions of the Himalayan foothills. And India, thereby, loses its right to protect Basmati rice under "geographical indications" like the Scotch whisky of Scotland, which cannot be produced and marketed anywhere else in the world.

On August 14, the USPTO's examiner, John Doll, gave the "Notice of Intent to Issue Re-examination Certificate" to RiceTec upholding claims 8, 9, and 11 and amending the claims 12 and 13, while striking down the claims 1-7, 10, 14-20. It may be recalled that RiceTec was granted a patent on "Basmati rice lines and grains" in September 1997 on the basis of 20 claims that it had submitted.

In reality, RiceTec had tried to upstage India by withdrawing not three but four claims (just to ensure that it doesn't look obvious) so that it becomes difficult for India to challenge the remaining claims

After an uproar in the country, India had filed for reexamination on April 28, 2000. The Indian challenge was limited to only three of the claims - 15, 16 and 17, which, in essence, related to the grain quality like elongation in cooking and aroma of Basmati grains. RiceTec had subsequently withdrawn not three but four of its claims (numbers 4, 15, 16 and 17) in September last, knowing well that these would not stand before the Indian challenge.

It was at that time that the country's leading patent experts and some members of the civil society had termed RiceTec's decision to withdraw four claims as "partial victory" for India. As a nation, we are quick to pat ourselves on the back at any given opportunity, and RiceTec's withdrawal came in handy. In reality, RiceTec had tried to upstage India by withdrawing not three but four claims (just to ensure that it doesn't look obvious) so that it becomes difficult for India to challenge the remaining claims. If India had at that time asked the USPTO to strike down the complete patent, probably we wouldn't have been faced with a piquant situation that the recent ruling has created.

Once again, Indian authorities and some members of the civil society are quick to term the August 14 ruling of the USPTO a "victory" for the country. And, once again, we are missing the woods for the trees, thereby leaving the basic flaws in the patent regime intact.

It is true that the USPTO has now dropped the term "Basmati rice lines and grains" from the definition of the patent. The title of the patent now reads: "Bas 867, TR1117 and RT 1121" (these are the names of the Basmati lines that RiceTec has evolved).

But let us take a look at the abstract, or the explanation, provided for the patent. And it is here that the obvious intention of the USPTO to provide a Basmati patent through the backdoor becomes clearly visible.

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2001

Answers

Prior to Y2k I bought a few 10 pound bags of Basmati rice at a local BJs Club warehouse outlet. I had never tried it before but I was sort of surprised at the difference when I cooked it. It certainly does have a different aroma and slightly different taste than our own common "Carolina" type white rice. I also like other types of rice such as brown rice, wild rice (expensive), and ordinary white rice.

I used to know some folks in Minnesota that used a week of their vacation time every fall to go into one of the backwoods lake areas in northern Minnesota and harvest wild rice. They used a canoe and would harvest and sell the rice they got. It turned into quite a good way to earn a big chunk of money for them each year, as well as being a sort of fun thing for the family as well.

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2001

"Prior to Y2k I bought a few 10 pound bags of Basmati rice at a local BJs Club warehouse outlet. I had never tried it before but I was sort of surprised at the difference when I cooked it."

LOL. Gordon, I was getting ready to post that, prior to y2k, I bought quite a few 20 pound bags of Carolina long-grained white rice at a local BJs Club warehouse outlet. (So, that was YOU blocking the aisle!!) Except that in my case, I first bought several small boxes of different kinds of rice at the local supermarket and taste tested them with a neighbor before I committed myself to the major y2k purchase.

Haven't eaten any of it yet, but that's another story.

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2001

I don't cook anything other than Basmati, sniff. I don't really like rice (unless it's in a thick, creamy lovely gooey pudding), but the nutty flavor of Basmati seems to suit me. (Okay, THERE's an opening you could drive an unmarked white van through.) I have a foolproof, never-burn-the-damn-stuff-again microwave recipe somewhere if anyone's interested.

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2001

Basmati has been the house rice here too, for years.

-- Anonymous, August 23, 2001