Intellectual Property Rights - Law and Practice · Geographical Indications

Authorised Users and Duration of GI Registration

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

A producer of the goods can apply to be registered as an authorised user of a registered geographical indication (section 17). Registration lasts ten years and can be renewed for ten years at a time (section 18). Only the authorised user gets the exclusive right to use the GI (section 21).

Understand Authorised Users and Duration of Registration

A geographical indication (GI) is registered by a proprietor, usually an association or body of producers. The proprietor does not use the GI to sell goods. The actual producers do. The Act calls these producers authorised users.

Under section 17, any person claiming to be the producer of the goods for which a GI is registered may apply in writing to the Registrar. The application must carry a statement, the documents of fact the Registrar requires to decide whether you are really the producer, and the prescribed fee. The Registrar then handles it like a GI application: filing and examination, refusal or acceptance, withdrawal of acceptance, advertisement, opposition, correction of errors, and registration.

Registration lasts ten years (section 18(1)). It can be renewed again and again. An authorised user's registration runs for ten years or until the GI's own registration expires, whichever is earlier. So an authorised user can never outlast the GI.

Registration gives two different things (section 21). The proprietor and the authorised users get the right to obtain relief for infringement. Only the authorised user gets the exclusive right to use the GI for the registered goods. Both rights are subject to any conditions and limitations on the register.

If renewal is missed, the Act gives a grace period, then removal, then a restoration window. Know each timeline. Examiners test them as short, fact-based questions.

Key rules to remember

Who may apply as authorised user: Any person claiming to be the producer of the goods of a registered GI, by written application to the Registrar (s.17(1)); The GI must already be registered under section 16.
Term of registration: GI: 10 years, renewable. Authorised user: 10 years or till the GI expires, whichever is earlier (s.18(1), (2)); Renewal is for 10 years from expiry of the last registration (s.18(3)).
Renewal application: Registered proprietor or authorised user applies in the prescribed manner, within the prescribed period, with the prescribed fee (s.18(3)); The Registrar sends a notice of expiry before the date (s.18(4)).
Grace period: Application + fee + surcharge within 6 months from expiry: no removal, renewal for 10 years (proviso to s.18(4)); Surcharge is payable in addition to the fee.
Restoration: After 6 months and within 1 year from expiry: application in prescribed form + fee; Registrar restores if satisfied it is just (s.18(5)); Restoration may be general or subject to conditions or limitations.
Effect of removal: For 1 year after removal, the GI is deemed to be on the register for other applications, unless s.19(a) or (b) is satisfied; (a) no bona fide trade use in the 2 years before removal; (b) no deception or confusion likely.
Rights on registration: Proprietor and authorised users: right to relief for infringement. Authorised user: exclusive right to use (s.21(1)); Subject to conditions and limitations (s.21(2)).
Similar GIs, several users: Registration alone gives none of them exclusive rights against the others (s.21(3)); Each has the same rights against outsiders as a sole authorised user.

How to solve Authorised Users and Duration of Registration questions

Most questions give a fact pattern with dates or a person claiming a right. Apply the method below and write provision, analysis, conclusion.

1Identify who the person is: proprietor, authorised user, or an applicant claiming to be a producer.
2Check that the GI is already registered under section 16. Without it, section 17 cannot apply.
3For authorised user questions, state the section 17 application: written, with statement, documents and fee, and the same procedure as for a GI application.
4For duration questions, mark the date of registration, add ten years, and compute the expiry date. For an authorised user, check the GI's own expiry too.
5For lapse questions, count from expiry: up to 6 months is the grace period with surcharge. After 6 months and within 1 year is restoration. Beyond 1 year, no restoration is available under section 18(5).
6For rights questions, separate the right to relief (proprietor and users) from the exclusive right to use (users only), and apply section 21(2) and (3) limits.
7Conclude in one clear sentence that answers what was asked.

Quickest way: Timeline-and-role check

When to use it: Use it when the question gives dates of expiry, renewal or removal, or asks who holds which right.

Draw a line: registration date, then expiry after 10 years.
Mark expiry plus 6 months (grace with surcharge) and expiry plus 1 year (end of restoration).
Place the facts on the line to decide the remedy.
Write the role: proprietor gets relief; only authorised user gets exclusive use.
Quote the section number beside each point.

Common mistakes in Authorised Users and Duration of Registration

Saying the registered proprietor has the exclusive right to use the GI.
Students carry over the trade mark idea that the owner uses the mark.
Fix: Under section 21(1)(b) the exclusive right to use is given to the authorised user. The proprietor gets the right to relief for infringement.
Giving an authorised user a full ten years regardless of the GI.
Students remember only the ten-year term.
Fix: Section 18(2): ten years or till the GI expires, whichever is earlier.
Mixing up the grace period and the restoration period.
Both involve 'six months' and 'one year'.
Fix: Grace: within 6 months of expiry, with fee and surcharge, and no removal. Restoration: after 6 months and within 1 year, after removal, if the Registrar is satisfied it is just.
Thinking a removed GI is immediately free for others to register.
Students ignore section 19.
Fix: For one year after removal the GI is treated as still on the register for other applications, unless there was no bona fide use in the two years before removal or no confusion is likely.
Treating authorised user registration as automatic with the GI.
Section 16 allows users to be registered with the GI, so students assume it is always so.
Fix: A producer can also apply later under section 17 and goes through filing, advertisement and opposition. A user may be registered along with the GI if named in the application.
Assuming two similar GIs give one user exclusive rights against the other.
Students apply trade mark priority thinking.
Fix: Section 21(3): registration alone does not give that exclusivity, unless conditions or limitations on the register say so.

Worked examples

Example 1

A GI for handloom sarees is registered on 10 March 2018. Ramesh, a weaver in the region, applied and was registered as an authorised user on 10 March 2020. Till when does Ramesh's registration last, and why?

Show the solution

The GI registration is for ten years under section 18(1). The registration date is the date of the application (section 16(1)), so the GI expires on 10 March 2028.
Ramesh's registration is a separate registration for ten years, but it ends on the date the GI's registration expires if that is earlier (section 18(2)).
Ten years from 10 March 2020 is 10 March 2030. The GI expires earlier, on 10 March 2028.
The earlier date applies, so Ramesh's registration ends on 10 March 2028, two years before its own ten-year term would end.

Answer: Ramesh's registration lasts only till 10 March 2028 under section 18(2), when the GI's registration expires. After that, he can apply under section 18(3) to renew his own registration, along with the renewal of the GI.

Example 2

A GI registered for a spice expired on 1 January 2025. The proprietor did not renew. On 15 May 2025 it applied with the fee and surcharge. Advise on the outcome. What if it had applied on 1 March 2026 instead?

Show the solution

Under the proviso to section 18(4), the Registrar shall not remove the GI if the application, fee and surcharge come within six months from expiry.
Six months from 1 January 2025 ends on 1 July 2025. 15 May 2025 is within it.
So the GI is not removed and is renewed for ten years under section 18(3). That renewal runs from the expiry of the last registration, 1 January 2025, not from the date of the application. The new term ends on 1 January 2035.
For 1 March 2026: one year from 1 January 2025 ends on 1 January 2026. 1 March 2026 is beyond both the six-month grace period and the one-year restoration window.
Restoration under section 18(5) is available only after six months and within one year from expiry, so it cannot be used.

Answer: The 15 May 2025 application succeeds: the GI stays on the register and is renewed for ten years from the expiry of the last registration (1 January 2025), so the new term ends on 1 January 2035. An application on 1 March 2026 falls outside the restoration window of section 18(5), so restoration under that section is not available.

Exam tips

Write section numbers beside each rule: 17, 18, 19, 21. Examiners reward them.
Always separate the right to relief from the exclusive right to use. This is the commonest scoring point.
In date problems, show the arithmetic of expiry, 6 months and 1 year in steps.
Mention section 19 when a removal question asks about another person's application.
Close each answer with a clear conclusion in one sentence.

Practice questions from Geographical Indications

Authorised Users and Duration of Registration: frequently asked questions

Who can apply as an authorised user of a GI?

Any person claiming to be the producer of the goods for which the GI is registered. The application is in writing to the Registrar, with a statement, documents of fact and the prescribed fee (section 17).

How long does GI registration last?

Ten years. It can be renewed from time to time, each renewal being for ten years from the expiry of the last registration (section 18).

What if the GI is not renewed on time?

You can still apply with the fee and surcharge within six months of expiry and avoid removal. If removed, restoration can be sought after six months and within one year, if the Registrar is satisfied it is just.

Does registration of a GI give the proprietor exclusive use?

No. The proprietor and authorised users can seek relief for infringement. The exclusive right to use belongs to the authorised user, subject to conditions and limitations on the register (section 21).