Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999
Act No. 48 of 1999
[30th December, 1999]
An Act to provide for the registration and better protection of geographical indications relating to goods
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Fiftieth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
Statement of Objects and Reasons.—1. At present there is no specific law governing geographical indications of goods in the country which could adequately protect the interests of producers of such goods. Exclusion of unauthorised persons from misusing geographical indications would serve to protect consumers from deception, add to the economic prosperity of the producers of such goods and also promote goods bearing Indian geographical indications in the export market. Unless a geographical indication is protected in the country of its origin, there is no obligation under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for other countries to extend reciprocal protection. India would, on the other hand, be required to extend protection to goods imported from other countries which provide for such protection. In view of the above circumstances, it is considered necessary to have a comprehensive legislation for registration and for providing adequate protection for geographical indications. Hence the Bill.
2. The Bill has the following salient features:—
(a) definitions of several important terms like “geographical indication”, “goods”, “producers”, “package”, “registered proprietor”, “authorised user”, etc.;
(b) provision for the establishment of a Geographical Indications Registry;
(c) provisions for the maintenance of a Register of Geographical Indications in two Parts—Part A and Part B and use of computers, etc., for maintenance of such registers. While Part A will contain all registered geographical indications, Part B will contain particulars of registered authorised users;
(d) registration of geographical indications of goods in specified classes;
(e) prohibition of registration of certain geographical indications;
(f) provisions for framing of rules by Central Government for filing of application, its contents and matters relating to substantive examination of geographical indication applications;
(g) compulsory advertisement of all accepted geographical indication applications and for inviting objections;
(h) registration of authorised users of registered geographical indications and providing infringement action either by a registered proprietor or an authorised user;
(i) provisions for the renewal, rectification and restoration of geographical indications and authorised user;
(j) provisions for higher level of protection for notified goods;
(k) prohibition of assignment, etc., of a geographical indication as it is a public property;
(l) prohibition of registration of geographical indication as a trade mark;
(m) appeal against Registrar’s decisions would lie to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board established under the Trade Marks legislation;
(n) provision relating to offences and penalties;
(o) provision detailing the effects of registration and the rights conferred by registration;
(p) provisions for reciprocity, powers of the Registrar, maintenance of index, protection of homonymous geographical indications, etc.
3. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects. The notes on clauses explain the various provisions of the Bill.
Chapter I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and commencement.
1. Short title, extent and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint; and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act, and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.
[Editor’s Note: The Act came into force w.e.f. September 15, 2003.]
2. Definitions and Interpretation.
2. Definitions and Interpretation.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “Appellate Board” means the Appellate Board established under Section 83 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999;
(b) “authorised user” means the authorised user of a geographical indication registered under Section 17;
(c) “deceptively similar” a geographical indication shall be deemed to be deceptively similar to another geographical indication if it so nearly resembles that other geographical indication as to be likely to deceive or cause confusion;
(d) “district court” has the meaning assigned to it in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908);
(e) “geographical indication”, in relation to goods, means an indication which identifies such goods as agricultural goods, natural goods or manufactured goods as originating, or manufactured in the territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and in case where such goods are manufactured goods one of the activities of either the production or of processing or preparation of the goods concerned takes place in such territory, region or locality, as the case may be.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, any name which is not the name of a country, region or locality of that country shall also be considered as the geographical indication if it relates to a specific geographical area and is used upon or in relation to particular goods originating from that country, region or locality, as the case may be;
(f) “goods” means any agricultural, natural or manufactured goods or any goods of handicraft or of industry and includes foodstuff;
(g) “indication” includes any name, geographical or figurative representation or any combination of them conveying or suggesting the geographical origin of goods to which it applies;
(h) “name” includes any abbreviation of a name;
(i) “package” includes any case, box, container, covering, folder, receptacle, vessel, casket, bottle, wrapper, label, band, ticket, reel, frame, capsule, cap, lid, stopper and cork;
(j) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(k) “producer”, in relation to goods, means any person who,—
(i) if such goods are agricultural goods, produces the goods and includes the person who processes or packages such goods;
(ii) if such goods are natural goods, exploits the goods;
(iii) if such goods are handicraft or industrial goods, makes or manufactures the goods,
and includes any person who trades or deals in such production, exploitation, making or manufacturing, as the case may be, of the goods;
(l) “register” means the Register of Geographical Indications referred to in Section 6;
(m) “registered” (with its grammatical variations) means registered under this Act;
(n) “registered proprietor”, in relation to a geographical indication, means any association of persons or of producers or any organisation for the time being entered in the register as proprietor of the geographical indication;
(o) “Registrar” means the Registrar of Geographical Indications referred to in Section 3;
(p) “tribunal” means the Registrar or, as the case may be, the Appellate Board before which the proceeding concerned is pending.
(2) Words and expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Trade Marks Act, 1999 shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act.
(3) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference—
(a) to the use of a geographical indication shall be construed as a reference to the use of a printed or other visual representation of the geographical indication;
(b) to the use of a geographical indication in relation to goods shall be construed as a reference to the use of the geographical indication upon, or in any physical or in any other relation whatsoever, to such goods;
(c) to a registered geographical indication shall be construed as including a reference to a geographical indication registered in the register;
(d) to the Registrar shall be construed as including a reference to any officer when discharging the functions of the Registrar in pursuance of sub-section (2) of Section 3;
(e) to the Geographical Indications Registry shall be construed as including a reference to any office of the Geographical Indications Registry.
Chapter II
THE REGISTER AND CONDITIONS FOR REGISTRATION
3. Registrar of Geographical Indications.
3. Registrar of Geographical Indications.—(1) The Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks appointed under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, shall be the Registrar of Geographical Indications.
(2) The Central Government may appoint such officers with such designations as it thinks fit for the purpose of discharging, under the superintendence and direction of the Registrar, such functions of the Registrar under this Act, as he may from time to time authorise them to discharge.
4. Power of Registrar to withdraw or transfer cases, etc.
4. Power of Registrar to withdraw or transfer cases, etc.—Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 3, the Registrar may, by order in writing and for reasons to be recorded therein, withdraw any matter pending before an officer appointed under the said sub-section (2) and deal with such matter himself either de novo or from the stage it was so withdrawn or transfer the same to another officer so appointed who may, subject to special directions in the order of transfer, proceed with the matter either de novo or from the stage it was so transferred.
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Other Contents of Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 |
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Sections 1 to 10 |
5. Geographical Indications Registry and offices thereof.
5. Geographical Indications Registry and offices thereof.—(1) For the purpose of this Act, there shall be established a Registry which shall be known as the Geographical Indications Registry.
(2) The head office of the Geographical Indications Registry shall be at such place as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify, and for the purpose of facilitating the registrations of geographical indications, there may be established at such places as the Central Government may think fit branch offices of the Geographical Indications Registry.
(3) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, define the territorial limits within which an office of the Geographical Indications Registry may exercise its functions.
(4) There shall be a seal of the Geographical Indications Registry.
6. Register of Geographical Indications.
6. Register of Geographical Indications.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, a record called the Register of geographical indications shall be kept at the head office of the Geographical Indications Registry, wherein shall be entered all registered geographical indications with the names, addresses and descriptions of the proprietors, the names, addresses and descriptions of authorised users and such other matters relating to registered geographical indications as may be prescribed and such registers may be maintained wholly or partly on computer.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), it shall be lawful for the Registrar to keep the records wholly or partly in computer floppies or diskettes or in any other electronic form, subject to such safeguards as may be prescribed.
(3) Where such register is maintained wholly or partly in computer floppies or diskettes or in any other electronic form under sub-section (2), any reference in this Act to any entry in the register shall be construed as the reference to the entry as maintained on computer floppies or diskettes or in any other electronic form, as the case may be.
(4) No notice of any trust, express or implied or constructive, shall be entered in the register and no such notice shall be receivable by the Registrar.
(5) Subject to the superintendence and direction of the Central Government, the register shall be kept under the control and management of the Registrar.
(6) There shall be kept at each branch office of the Geographical Indications Registry a copy of the register and such other documents mentioned in Section 78 as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct.
7. Part-A and Part-B of the Register.
7. Part-A and Part-B of the Register.—(1) The register referred to in Section 6 shall be divided into two Parts called respectively Part-A and Part-B.
(2) The particulars relating to the registration of the geographical indications shall be incorporated and form part of Part-A of the register in the prescribed manner.
(3) The particulars relating to the registration of the authorised users shall be incorporated and form part of Part-B of the register in the prescribed manner.
8. Registration to be in respect of particular goods and area.
8. Registration to be in respect of particular goods and area.—(1) A geographical indication may be registered in respect of any or all of the goods, comprised in such class of goods as may be classified by the Registrar and in respect of a definite territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, as the case may be.
(2) The Registrar shall classify the goods under sub-section (1), as far as may be, in accordance with the International classification of goods for the purposes of registration of geographical indications.
(3) The Registrar may publish in the prescribed manner an alphabetical index of classification of goods referred to in sub-section (2).
(4) Any question arising as to the class within which any goods fall or the definite area as referred to in sub-section (1) in respect of which the geographical indication is to be registered or where any goods are not specified in the alphabetical index of goods published under sub-section (3) shall be determined by the Registrar whose decision in the matter shall be final.
9. Prohibition of registration of certain geographical indications.
9. Prohibition of registration of certain geographical indications.—A geographical indication—
(a) the use of which would be likely to deceive or cause confusion; or
(b) the use of which would be contrary to any law for the time being in force; or
(c) which comprises or contains scandalous or obscene matter; or
(d) which comprises or contains any matter likely to hurt the religious susceptibilities of any class or section of the citizens of India; or
(e) which would otherwise be disentitled to protection in a court; or
(f) which are determined to be generic names or indications of goods and are, therefore, not or ceased to be protected in their country of origin, or which have fallen into disuse in that country; or
(g) which, although literally true as to the territory, region or locality in which the goods originate, but falsely represent to the persons that the goods originate in another territory, region or locality, as the case may be,
shall not be registered as a geographical indication.
Explanation 1.—For the purposes of this section, “generic names or indications”, in relation to goods, means the name of a goods which, although relates to the place or the region where the goods was originally produced or manufactured, has lost its original meaning and has become the common name of such goods and serves as a designation for or indication of the kind, nature, type or other property or characteristic of the goods.
Explanation 2.—In determining whether the name has become generic, account shall be taken of all factors including the existing situation in the region or place in which the name originates and the area of consumption of the goods.
10. Registration of homonymous geographical indications.
10. Registration of homonymous geographical indications.—Subject to the provisions of Section 7, a homonymous geographical indication may be registered under this Act, if the Registrar is satisfied, after considering the practical conditions under which the homonymous indication in question shall be differentiated from other homonymous indications and the need to ensure equitable treatment of the producers of the goods concerned, that the consumers of such goods shall not be confused or misled in consequence of such registration.
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