New Delhi, March 18 -- South American niche brandy Pisco belongs to both Peru and Chile, the Delhi High Court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting the Peruvian embassy's plea seeking exclusive rights to the name in India.

A division bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla held that both Peru and Chile have long-standing use of the mark 'Pisco' for alcoholic beverages, and therefore no single country can claim exclusivity over it in India.

The court said Peru cannot have exclusive rights to the name 'Pisco' because it is not uniquely linked to any one country. Since both nations have been using the name for a considerable period, the law does not permit granting exclusive GI protection to Peru alone.

The court upheld the single...