Indians Attack Japanese Trying to Patent Curry Recipe
LONDON, Dec 1 Asia Pulse - Leading members of the Indian culinary community in Britain have attacked an attempt by a Japanese food company to patent an instant curry recipe on the grounds that it is a fundamentally Indian dish.
Hirayama Makoto and Ohashi Sachiyo, representatives of the Japanese House Foods Corporaton, have claimed that they have invented a way to "easily cook a curry having excellent taste and flavour", the Times report said yesterday.
If their application is considered by the Japanese authorities they could be entitled to a royalty for "every nasty, synthetic, boil-in-the-bag curry sold in Japan each year", the daily said.
The move has irked an estimated 8,500 curry houses chefs who are urging India to take up the matter under the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
"Curry is traditionally an Indian dish. Even the word curry now adopted in English is a Hindi word. For thousands of years Indians have been preparing and eating curry," said B K Gupta, managing director of Multi-link Limited, manufacturers of food supplements in Britain.
Gupta, who had earlier unsuccessfully tried to patent `Karela' (bittergaud) in Britain, said the Indian government must take up the issue under the IPR.
LONDON, Dec 1 Asia Pulse - Leading members of the Indian culinary community in Britain have attacked an attempt by a Japanese food company to patent an instant curry recipe on the grounds that it is a fundamentally Indian dish.
Hirayama Makoto and Ohashi Sachiyo, representatives of the Japanese House Foods Corporaton, have claimed that they have invented a way to "easily cook a curry having excellent taste and flavour", the Times report said yesterday.
If their application is considered by the Japanese authorities they could be entitled to a royalty for "every nasty, synthetic, boil-in-the-bag curry sold in Japan each year", the daily said.
The move has irked an estimated 8,500 curry houses chefs who are urging India to take up the matter under the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
"Curry is traditionally an Indian dish. Even the word curry now adopted in English is a Hindi word. For thousands of years Indians have been preparing and eating curry," said B K Gupta, managing director of Multi-link Limited, manufacturers of food supplements in Britain.
Gupta, who had earlier unsuccessfully tried to patent `Karela' (bittergaud) in Britain, said the Indian government must take up the issue under the IPR.
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