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Geographical Indications of Goods Act, 1999

Chapter I PRELIMINARY

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Chapter I PRELIMINARY

1. Short title, extent and commencement.

Statutory text
  1. (1) This Act may be called the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999.
  2. (2) It extends to the whole of India.
  3. (3) It shall come into force on such date 1 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.

Chapter I PRELIMINARY

2. Definitions and interpretation.

Statutory text
  1. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- 1*****
    • (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 food stuff;
    • (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; 2*****
  2. (2) Words and expressions used and not defined in this Act but defined in the Trade Marks Act, 1999 (47 of 1999) shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in that Act.
  3. (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.

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