Jute hessian use to be patented by British firm

Kohinoor Mandal

Calcutta: After neem and turmeric it is now the turn of the jute hessian, a 100-year old product of the jute industry, to be patented by a foreign agency. And here it is a British firm - Geohess - who has been awarded a patent for use of hessian cloth for covering rubbish at landfill sites.Though the hessian cloth, in general, has been spared still the jute industry does not wish to take any chances. It has already submitted all the necessary documents to the secretary of the Union ministry of textiles, Shyamal Ghosh, for initiating action. It was also learnt that the government have started a dialogue with a leading patent attorney firm on how to handle the whole situation. The jute industry, which is never short of problems, is almost at a total loss of words on this new development. Geohess, who filed its patent application way back in 1993, was awarded only in July, this year. The company is already charging 65 per cent of cost, which the British users are paying for hessian, as royalty. And its firsttarget is Sussola Waste, another British firm working on landfill sites.

All these information slowly reached India through the internet. Sanjay Kajaria, the chairman of the Indian Jute Mills Association, received the message on his email. Sussola Waste is already feeling the pinch with a 65 per cent rise in its expenses. The company has moved to the necessary authorities to take action against Geohess. Its adviser is David Kopp of Dummet Copp firm.

Kajaria said that this patent, though on a particular usage on hessian, will certainly affect the exports of hessian. It already suffered a setback in 1998-99 when it dropped to 65,000 tonnes from 1.07 lakh tonnes of the previous year. Yarn exports also dropped from 1.17 lakh tonnes in 1997-98 to 88,000 in 1998-99. Total jute exports also dropped from three lakh tonnes to 1.97 lakh tonnes. "As it is evident, last year was not too good for us in the export front. Our hessian and yarn suffered most. Now with this sort problems arising from nowhere, the industrywill be hit further," Kajaria said. The matter has already being forwarded to the Union ministry of textiles. Last week, when the Union textile secretary, Shyamal Ghosh visited the city, Kajaria along with other leading members of IJMA has forwarded the necessary papers.

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