After Haleem, now Hyderabad's famed lac bangles make pitch for Geographical Indication tag

HYDERABAD: After Hyderabadi Haleem, its now the turn of Hyderabad’s famed lac bangles to make a pitch for the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
A GI application for the glittering lac bangles that are handcrafted only in Hyderabad’s ‘Laad Bazaar’ has been filed with the GI Registry in Chennai on Thursday.
The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) defines GI as a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that arises due to that origin.
The GI application has been filed by GI agent Subhajit Saha, who is head of legal & IPR at Resolute Group on behalf of Hyderabad-based Crescent Handicrafts Society that represents artisans who make these delicate and colourful lac bangles.
The art of making these intricate lac bangles is over 500 years old and has been handed down the generations in Laad Bazaar. Lacquer from resin is melted and molded into a round shape after which it is embellished with crystals, beads, mirrors or stones.
“A GI tag will pave the way for better branding of the Hyderabad lac bangles better in India and abroad. The application will go through the various steps of registration and is expected to be registered in a year,” Saha said, adding that a unique logo has been designed.
“The GI registration will help the art and the artisans by giving them rights to the IP and will enable them to sell these bangles at a premium post the registration while also protecting the interests of buyers,” Saha said.
While Haleem was the first exclusive offering from the city to bag the GI tag, an attempt was made to get a GI for Hyderabadi Biryani as well but fell through.
Apart from Haleem, Telangana has over a dozen agricultural, handicraft and textile products that have received GI registration.
This includes the famed Banaganapalle mangoes, Pochampally Ikat, Karimnagar’s silver filigree work, Nirmal furniture, paintings and toys & crafts, Gadwal sarees, Siddipet Gollabama, Cheriyal paintings, Pembarthy metal craft, Adlilabad Dokra, Warangal durries, Telia rumal, Narayanpet handloom sarees.