Trademark and Geographical Indication Bill

A01

Amend Section 19(2)(a) and 19(2)(b) to read as follows:

(a) a request for the registration of a geographical indication as set out in section 20;

(b) a description of the product as set out in section 21;

A02

Amend section 40(2) as follows:

(2) This Act will commence two months after receiving Royal Assent.

A01 and A02 were submitted by /u/model-willem.

A03

Leave out clause 5(1)(d) and insert in its place:

(d) is threatening, abusive, or significantly offensive or insulting;

(e) is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to a reasonable person;

(f) is contrary to any of the laws of the United Kingdom;

Renumber the existing paragraphs (e)-(g) accordingly.

In clause 31(1), leave out " and is not contrary to public order or accepted principles of morality".

EN: While importing principles of morality is nice on paper. the problem is we're asking the courts to do something they're not qualified to do. Morality is an individual thing and while it does shape the law, the courts now take the view that they are interpreting law rather than creating law (such as what they did with common law, particularly for criminal offences). The modern view of the legal system by most academics is one of legal positivism — where laws and morality are separate — rather than that of natural law — where laws are only valid if they are good according to a higher authority.

This amendment removes the need for courts to determine a wide question of morality, and instead replaces it with tests that they have already considered in the criminal sphere with harassment. This amendment should help ensure that judicial decisions are consistent and impartial.

A04

In clause 1(1), leave out both instances of "rendered" and insert in their place "provided".

In clause 6, leave out "acts as the producer, processor or preparer for sales of" and insert in its place "produces, processes or prepares for sale", and leave out "as the renderer of" and insert in its place "provides".

In clause 7, leave out "acts as the producer, processor or preparer for sales of" and insert in its place "produces, processes or prepares for sale", and leave out "as the renderer of" and insert in its place "provides".

In clause 8, leave out "act as the producer, processor or preparer for sales of" and insert in its place "produce, process or prepare for sale", and leave out "as the renderer of" and insert in its place "provide".

EN: Using the definite article here may suggest that there is a sole or exclusive provider of the good or service that has a geographical indication. The rewording moves away from using a definite article to remove any chance of ambiguity.

The other, minor, change is to move from "renders" to "provides" as part of the legislative best practice of using plain English where possible.

A05

Leave out clause 10 and insert in its place:

Section 10: False representations relating to geographical indicator registration

(1) A person (“P”) commits an offence if P—

(a) falsely represents that a good or service is protected by a registered geographical indicator, and

(b) knows or has reason to believe the representation was false.

(2) In this section, a representation that a good or service is protected by a registered geographical indicator includes—

(a) the words "registered geographical indicator",

(b) the symbol constituting an encircled capital letter G where it has the purpose or effect of referencing geographical indicator registration, and

(c) any other word or symbol, or combination of words or symbols, that has the purpose or effect of referencing geographical indicator registration.

(3) It is a defence for P to show that the reference is to geographical indicator registration outside the United Kingdom and that the geographical indicator is registered in that place for the goods or services in question.

(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

EN: Anyone can use the phrase "registered geographical indicator" or the letter G already, so the current section 10 has no substantive effect. After all, everything that isn't forbidden is allowed. This amendment instead prohibits it in cases where it shouldn't be used, akin to section 95 of the Trade Marks Act 1994. The language used aims to be a touch more modern than the 1994 Act though, attempting to keep more in line with current legislative drafting principles.

A03-A05 were submitted by /u/model-kurimizumi.

This division will end on Thursday 31st August at 10pm BST.