Weavers’ group files patent for new weaving technology

BHUBANESWAR - A weavers’ organisation in Orissa has filed a patent application on a wall hanging designed with a new textile weaving technology invented by one of its members.

Sambalpuri Bastralaya Handloom Cooperative Society Ltd filed the patent at the Kolkata patent office on the textile which a weaver makes using a tie-and-dye method but without wrap, the society’s managing director Dilip Kumar Routray told IANS.

“We have filed a patent application on a process for making the wall hanging with appealing features. The technology has been developed by Bhikari Meher, one of our weavers. We have filed for the patent on his behalf,” he said.

At least four designs of the wall hangings which Bhikhari makes using this new technology have already been registered under Designs Act 2000, Routray said, and added that the registration was granted this week and the society was informed Thursday.

Sambalpuri Bastralaya has its headquarters at Bargarh town in the Bargarh district, some 380 km from here. It is one of India’s biggest weavers’ cooperative with more than 16,000 members.

The members are mostly engaged in the making of Sambalpuri cloth - traditionally hand woven cloth wherein the warp and the weft are tie-dyed before weaving.

Weavers often complain that some manufacturers outside the state were blatantly copying the patterns and marketing their products across the globe as original traditional Sambalpuri textiles, the official said. The step has been taken to guard against their illegal copying and marketing, he added.