Texas based Rice Tec Inc. claimed that their invention pertains to a novel breed of rice plants and grains therefore UPSTO granted the patent on 'Basmati Rice Lines and Grains' in September, 1997 after three years examin

In the case of patent granted to Rice Tec Inc., an American private company based in Texas, India challenged the grant of patent in US. Basmati rice, sought-after for its fragrant taste, was developed by Indian farmers over hundreds of years, but the Texan company Rice Tec obtained a patent for a cross-breed with American long-grain rice. Rice Tec was granted the patent on the basis of aroma, elongation of the grain on cooking and chalkiness. However, the Indian government filed 50,000 pages of scientific evidence to the US Patents and Trademarks Office, insisting that most high quality basmati varieties already possess these characteristics. The US Patent and Trademarks office accepted the petition and will re-examine its legitimacy. The patent granted only in the US provided Rice Tec control over basmati rice production in North America. Farmers had to pay a fee to grow the rice and were not allowed to plant the seeds to grow the following year's crops. India feared the patent may severely damage exports from its own farmers to the US. India has also objected to Rice Tec calling the rice 'basmati', insisting the name should be used only for rice grown in the Basmati region of India. The Indian government claimed similar status for basmati rice as that granted to Champagne, Cognac and Scotch whisky. A team of agricultural scientists screened several research papers, reports and proceedings of seminars, conferences, symposia, journals, newspapers and archives for relevant supporting information to establish the existence of prior-art in this area in India. The documentary evidences against the claim Nos. 15, 16 and 17 of the company for novelty were so strong that Rice Tec had to withdraw these claims. The company further withdrew 11 claims. Thus only five of the Rice Tec's original 20 claims survived the Indian challenges. The patent granted simply gives three hybrid varieties Bas 867, RT 1117 and RT 1121. The new rice has nothing to do with basmati. Importantly, none of the claims granted by the patent pertain to basmati rice as a generic category. Also, the Rice Tec. application was for a patent and not for basmati as a trade mark, so there is no question of Rice Tec getting exclusive rights to use the term basmati. The patent granted, therefore, neither prevents Indian Basmati from being exported to the US nor puts it at a disadvantage in the market.