Pashmina Logo Launch in the News

Further to my recent post regarding Bec's trip to Kathmandu to attend the launch of the NPIA logo, below are some stories in the local media on the event.

Bec meets the PM in Kathmandu!

Just a quick post to let you know Bec flew to Kathmandu on Wednesday so that she could attend the inauguration ceremony for the Nepal Pashmina Industries Association (NPIA) trademark. This is a project on which Bec has been working with NPIA for a couple of years and through her various law firm contacts throughout the world she has assisted them to have their trademark registered in most major markets in the world. This is a first for any Nepalese company or venture.

The trademark certifies the authenticity of a product as real pashmina and also guarantees certain standards to do with processing, environmentally friendly production and non-use of child labour. This is a significant leap forward for an indigenous Nepali industry and we hope it will open the door for other organisations to bring their unique products to the world.

The inauguration ceremony was held to celebrate the registration of the trademark in key markets as well as officially launching the use of the logo on pashmina products. The event was attended by Nepal's Prime Minister, Mr Madhav Kumar Nepal, as well as a number of other dignitaries. The PM presented Bec with a pashmina shawl bearing the new logo as a token of gratitude for the work she has done for the project. NPIA have also prepared a short film which was premiered at the event. It covers the background to the project and will be circulated globally to raise awareness about the logo and the importance of purchasing genuine pashmina.

Congratulations to Bec and NPIA for making such a huge impact on trade, export and commerce for Nepal! Thanks must also go to the many law firms around the world who provided their services on a pro bono basis for the trademark registrations.

Mitrataa in the news in Nepal

Mitrataa was recently in the news in Nepal as a result of Bec’s work on trademark registration for the Nepal Pashmina Industry Association (NPIA). For the past 18 months Bec has been working with NPIA in a strategic advisory capacity to help them create and register a trademark that signified certain of their products were legitimate pashmina products. In many countries the market is now flooded with products from China and India that falsely claim to be made from pashmina. The aim of this project therefore is to create a way for consumers to determine the genuine article and in the process increase export opportunities for Nepali business and the associated benefits that stem from this.

The recent article in The Himalayan Times celebrates the fact that the NPIA logo has successfully been registered as a trademark in Norway, with Australia and a number of other countries also in the process. This is a great result for NPIA and for Mitrataa. Bec has worked tirelessly with her network of law firm contacts around the world to get the best trademark advice and assistance with registration on a pro bono basis. It is testament to her relationship with firms in so many markets that the trademark is in the process of being registered in over 20 countries without NPIA incurring any legal costs other than the fees for application and registration! We want to acknowledge 4 firms in particular who have helped with this project - Rouse, Arent Fox, Baker & McKenzie, and TPC LLC.

The next step for this project will involve a marketing campaign to educate consumers about the different types of products in the market and how to distinguish ‘real’ pashmina ie. by checking for the logo. Down the track we also have very ambitious plans to develop the communities who farm the pashmina goats, providing education for their girls and education and employment opportunities for their women. Pashmina is one of a number of industries indigenous to Nepal and with vast export earning potential.

Well done Bec! Could this be the first Nepali enterprise to hold a trademark registration outside of Nepal?!

Some challenges but more good stuff happening!

It has been an interesting few days in Kathmandu so far, trying to get work done with electricity supply sporadic at best. It seems the best time to try and do any work is between 4am and 8am most mornings as this is when you can get a fairly reliable charge for the laptop and the internet should stay connected! Unfortunately this is not the only difficulty people here are facing right now as we have just seen the end of an 18 day garbage collection strike!

Still, we have managed to make some good progress with new projects for 2009. The first of these involved Rebecca presenting at a forum on the future of the pashmina industry in Nepal. We have been working with Nepal Pashmina Industry Association (NPIA) for some time helping them with trade mark registrations and general branding advice. (Read more about this at our website.) We wanted to take this further as pashmina is one of the industries with the best potential for Nepal. The forum brought together industry specialists including scientists from the Nepal Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) and collectively we have started working towards a strategy to improve the processing infrastructure for the industry. This will include a large education component for women in the key areas where pashmina goats are farmed. These areas are typically high up in the Himalayas and quite poor, with little education and basically a subsistence lifestyle. The research carried out so far suggests that with a small amount of targeted input we will be able to make some big inroads into providing education and training opportunities for the women and girls in these areas. Stay tuned for more as this project takes shapes during the year.

The electricity situation has made blog updates very difficult but we have been ‘on the go’ for the entire week and we will post the updates as and when we can!