Saint Teresa's Blue Bordered Saree Is Now Under Intellectual Property Rights

The light and spirit of Blessed Saint Mother Teresa are still burning brightly. On September 04,2016,she was canonized and this also coincided with the recognition of the Blue border saree, the apparel worn by the nuns of Missionaries of Charities, as Intellectual Property. Endorsing her spiritual powers is the due recognition given by the Vatican and now her saree which was initially blessed by Father Van Exem at the Sacristy of the Convent Chapel. The distinct blue pattern of the saree cannot be imitated by anyone else.She wore the same designed saree ever after as she went out to serve the poor and the destitute on the streets of Kolkata. The border of the saree had two small blue stripes followed by a wider stripe. Blue border pattern is a distinctive symbolic identity of Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor. She is considered one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century. Born in 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, Mother Teresa taught in India for 17 years. In the year 1946,she experienced her "call within a call" to devote herself to carefor the sick and the poor. Her order established a hospice,centers for the blinds, aged and disabled people aswell as leper colony. In 1979, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work. She died in September,1997 and was beatified in October 2003. In December 2015, Pope Francis recognized a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, clearing the way for her to be canonized as Saint Teresa of Calcutta on September 4, 2016. To protect their identity through Intellectual Property Rights, trade mark applications were filed on December 12, 2013 before the Trade Marks Registry after which necessary due diligence as well as necessary procedures were being followed. Thereafter, the registrations were granted after nearly three years. In order to commemorate the sainthood of Mother Teresa, the Government of India symbolically granted the trade mark registration on September 4, 2016, despite it being a Sunday. This information has been revealed by IP Attorney Biswajit Sarkar who leads an Intellectual Property law firm. He further added that “The Missionaries of Charity does not believe in publicity and as such it was not publicized, but since unscrupulous and unfair usage of the design across the globe is being witnessed, spreading awareness among people about the trademark would alleviate such unfair practices. On instruction from Missionaries of Charity, Biswajit Sarkar, Advocates - IP Attorneys, a globally active law firm has made great in roads for the protection of blue patterned saree under Intellectual Property Rights. May the glorified Saint and her Stripes always be protected and blessed.