Kasuti is protected by a Geographical Indication, or GI tag. This lesson explains what that tag is, who holds it, what it does and does not do, and whom to ask if you want to use the name for your own work.

This lesson explains the idea in general terms. It is not legal advice. For anything about your own work or business, ask the offices named below or a lawyer who works on intellectual property.

What you’ll learn

  • What a GI tag is, in plain words.
  • Who holds Kasuti’s GI, and when it was granted.
  • What the GI protects, and what it does not promise.
  • How a buyer, a maker and a teacher should think about it.

What a GI is

Kasuti embroidery has a Geographical Indication (GI) tag – India’s legal recognition that the name belongs to a region and its traditional way of working.

Think of Darjeeling tea or Mysore silk. A GI says: this name means a product from this place, made in this traditional way. It stops goods made elsewhere, or made a different way, from being sold under that name.

Kasuti’s GI

  • Who holds it: the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation.
  • When: approved in 2005; the certificate was issued on 30 January 2006.
  • What it protects: Kasuti’s link to the Dharwad–Belagavi–Hubballi–Vijayapura belt, and the name against machine-made or printed imitations sold as Kasuti.

The Corporation is often shortened to KSHDC or KHDC. It holds the GI on behalf of the craft and its makers, not as a private brand.

What a GI does not do

  • It does not prove that any one item is hand-made, or who made it.
  • It does not give any one company the sole right to sell Kasuti.
  • It does not stop you learning, practising or teaching the stitches.

For a buyer, the GI is a useful signal – but the surest test is still to turn the piece over. You’ll learn how in Module 8.

In more depth

The law behind it

India’s GI system comes from the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, which came into force in 2003. GIs are registered by the Geographical Indications Registry in Chennai, part of the Government of India’s intellectual property office (Intellectual Property India). Each GI is published in the official GI Journal.

Two kinds of name on the register

  • The registered proprietor – the body that applied for and holds the GI. For Kasuti, that is the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation.
  • Authorised users – producers who apply separately to be listed as users of the GI. The Act allows this, and the Registry handles the applications.

Two dates, one process

Some sources say Kasuti got its GI in 2006, others in 2005. Both are probably right: the application was approved in 2005 and the certificate was issued on 30 January 2006. They are two steps of the same registration.

Renewal

Under the Act, a GI registration lasts ten years and can be renewed. The current status of Kasuti’s registration should be checked in the Registry’s public records rather than assumed.

Neighbouring GIs

Several crafts linked to Kasuti have their own GIs, including the Ilkal saree. That is a separate registration for the weave, not the embroidery.

Tips for learners and teachers
  • Read the entry yourself. The GI Journal is published online by Intellectual Property India. Looking up the Kasuti entry is a good class exercise in reading an official record.
  • Say “Kasuti-inspired” when it is. If a design borrows Kasuti motifs but is printed, machine-made or made outside the tradition, describe it honestly.
  • Keep the two tests together. Teach the GI and the “turn it over” test side by side. One is about the name; the other is about the work.
  • Use the right body’s name. Write “Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation” in full the first time, then KSHDC.
Common misunderstandings

“A GI tag on a label means the piece is hand-made.”

No. A GI protects a name and a region. It does not check every item. Look at the back.

“Only people born in north Karnataka may stitch Kasuti.”

No. Anyone may learn and practise the stitches. The GI is about how goods are named and sold, not who may learn a craft.

“The GI belongs to one company.”

No. A state body holds it on behalf of the craft and its makers.

“If I learn Kasuti in Bengaluru, I can’t call my work Kasuti.”

This is a real question, and the answer depends on the GI’s exact terms and on how you sell. Do not guess. See “What to ask, and whom” below.

For earning and teaching: what to ask, and whom

For earning: if you plan to sell your work, before you put the word “Kasuti” on a label, a listing or a shop sign, ask:

  • The Geographical Indications Registry, Chennai: what the registered Kasuti GI covers (the place and the method), and how a producer can apply to be an authorised user.
  • The Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation: how it supports makers who use the Kasuti name, and whether it runs any marking or certification for genuine pieces.
  • A lawyer who works on intellectual property: how the GI applies to your own product, your own town and the words you want to use, such as “Kasuti”, “Kasuti-style” or “Kasuti-inspired”.

Whatever the answer, describe your work truthfully: hand or machine, where it was made, and by whom.

For teaching: teaching the stitches does not need permission. If you plan to sell finished pieces made in your classes, ask the same three questions first.

Sources and uncertain points
  • Dates: sources give 2005 or 2006. We present both: approved 2005, certificate issued 30 January 2006.
  • The holder’s short name appears as both KHDC and KSHDC in different sources.
  • The current renewal status of the Kasuti GI has not been checked for this lesson. Check the Registry’s records.
  • The Ilkal saree’s own GI is reported in public GI lists; its details have not been checked for this lesson.
  • The exact wording of what the GI covers is in the GI Journal entry; this lesson summarises it and is not a substitute for it.
  • Main source: the D&D ebook Kasuti – The Complete Encyclopedia, chapters 4, 16 and 24.
Check yourself
  • Can you explain what a GI is in one sentence?
  • Do you know who holds the Kasuti GI?
  • Can you explain why two different years are given?
  • Do you know the one thing a GI does not prove about a single piece?
  • Do you know whom to ask before you label your own work “Kasuti”?
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