The binding periods are in the rules. Notable ones are one month to remedy a deficiency (rule 31), two months to respond to an objection (rule 34), three months (plus up to one month) to oppose (rule 41), two months for a counterstatement (rule 43), six months before expiry as the earliest renewal...
Read Complete Guide →The Manual (Version 01.11, 26 July 2011) is the GI Registry's guidance and does not have the force of law; the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 and the Rules of 2002 as now in force prevail. The two later documents are drafts published for comments: they are...
An application for a GI is made by an association of persons or producers, or by an organisation or authority established under law, that represents the producers of the goods. The Manual adds that the applicant must be a legal entity and must be able to prove that it represents producers. The...
Once deficiencies are cleared, the Registrar ordinarily constitutes a Consultative Group to test the particulars in the statement of case, then issues an Examination Report that may object or propose conditional acceptance. The applicant must comply, give written observations or ask for a hearing...
To be registered, an indication must first meet the definition of a geographical indication and must then avoid every prohibition in section 9. The Manual walks through seven: likely deception or confusion, being contrary to law, scandalous or obscene matter, matter hurtful to religious...
Under section 14, any person may oppose after the application is advertised, by notice on Form GI-2. The applicant answers with a counter-statement, and written evidence is exchanged in set stages, each with its own period. The opponent who does not follow up is treated as having abandoned the...
The Registrar enters the indication in Part A of the Register once the application is unopposed within time, or an opposition has been dismissed and the appeal period is over. The entry records the filing and registration dates, goods, class, and the particulars of the proprietor and of the...
An application to cancel, expunge or vary an entry, or the statement of case on which it rests, is made to the Registrar on the prescribed form with a statement of the applicant's interest, the facts and the relief. The registered proprietor answers by counter-statement, and the evidence and...
Renewal of a registered indication is made on Form GI-4, and of an authorised user on Form GI 3B (the Manual still says Form GI-3, which the 2020 Rules replaced). It may be filed at any time not more than six months before expiry. The Registry sends a reminder one to three months before expiry. If...
A certified copy of an entry, sealed by the Registrar, is admissible as evidence and is the document used in court and for registration abroad. Affidavits before the Registrar must follow set formalities, and foreign-language documents need an attested translation. The Registrar has civil-court...
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