Page:Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.djvu/3



"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;

"Registrar" means the Registrar of Geographical Indications referred to in section 3;

"tribunal" means the Registrar or, as the case may be, the Appellate Board before which the proceeding concerned is pending. 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.

in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference—

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;

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;

to a registered geographical indication shall be construed as including a reference to a geographical indication registered in the register;

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;

to the Geographical Indications Registry shall be construed as including a reference to any office of the Geographical Indications Registry.

CHAPTER I

3. 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.

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. 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appointed under the said sub-section (2) and deal with such matter himself either de novo or from the stage it was so withdrawn or transfer the same to another officer so appointed who may, subject to special directions in the order of transfer, proceed with the matter either de novo or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.

5. For the purpose of this Act, there shall be established a Registry which shall be known as the Geographical Indications Registry.

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.