Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
Registration to be prima facie evidence
75. In all legal proceedings relating to a registered geographical indication or any right thereunder (including proceedings for rectification of the register) —(a) the register is prima facie evidence of anything contained therein; and (b) the registration of a registered geographical indication is prima facie evidence that the grounds referred to in section 41 are absent.
Certificate of validity of contested registration
76.—(1) If in proceedings before the Registrar or the Court the validity of the registration of a geographical indication is contested, and it is found by the Registrar or the Court that the geographical indication is validly registered, the Registrar or the Court may give a certificate to that effect.[23/2019] (2) Where a certificate is given under subsection (1) and in subsequent proceedings before the Registrar or the Court —(a) the validity of the registration is again questioned; and (b) the registrant obtains a final order or judgment in the registrant’s favour relying on the validity of the registration as found in the earlier proceedings, the registrant is entitled to be indemnified as to the registrant’s costs as between solicitor and client in the subsequent proceedings unless the Registrar or the Court directs otherwise. [23/2019] (3) Subsection (2) does not extend to the costs of an appeal in the subsequent proceedings.
Certificate of Registrar
77. A certificate purporting to be under the hand of the Registrar as to any entry, matter or thing which the Registrar is authorised to make or do under this Act, is prima facie evidence of the entry having been made, and of the contents thereof, and of the matter or thing having been done or not done.
Costs of proceedings before Court
78. In all proceedings before the Court under this Act, the Court may award to any party (including the Registrar) such costs as it may consider reasonable, but the Registrar is not to be ordered to pay the costs of any of the other parties.
Burden of proving use of registered geographical indication
79. If in any proceedings commenced under section 52(1)(b) a question arises as to the use to which a registered geographical indication has been put, it is for the registrant to show what use has been made of it.
Offences by bodies corporate, etc.
80.—(1) Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved —(a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer; or (b) to be attributable to any neglect on the officer’s part, the officer as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. (2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) applies in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate. (3) Where an offence under this Act committed by a partnership is proved —(a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner; or (b) to be attributable to any neglect on the partner’s part, the partner as well as the partnership shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. (4) Where an offence under this Act committed by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) is proved —(a) to have been committed with the consent or connivance of an officer of the unincorporated association or a member of its governing body; or (b) to be attributable to any neglect on the part of such an officer or member, the officer or member as well as the unincorporated association shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. (5) In this section —“body corporate” includes a limited liability partnership as defined in section 2(1) of the Limited Liability Partnerships Act 2005; “officer” —(a) in relation to a body corporate, means any director, partner, member of the committee of management, chief executive, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; or (b) in relation to an unincorporated association (other than a partnership), means the president, the secretary, or any member of the committee of the unincorporated association, or any person holding a position analogous to that of president, secretary or member of such a committee and includes any person purporting to act in any such capacity; “partner” includes a person purporting to act as a partner. (6) The Minister may make rules to provide for the application of any provision of this section, with such modifications as the Minister considers appropriate, to any body corporate or unincorporated association formed or recognised under the law of a country or territory outside Singapore.
Composition of offences
81.—(1) The Registrar or any person authorised in writing by the Registrar may compound any offence under this Act that is prescribed as a compoundable offence by collecting from a person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum not exceeding the lower of the following:(a) one half of the amount of the maximum fine that is prescribed for the offence; (b) $5,000.[Act 23 of 2019 wef 10/06/2022] (2) On payment of the sum of money, no further proceedings may be taken against that person in respect of the offence. (3) The Office may, with the approval of the Minister, make regulations to prescribe the offences that may be compounded. (4) All sums collected under this section must be paid into the Consolidated Fund.
Jurisdiction of courts
82. Despite any provision to the contrary in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court has jurisdiction to try any offence under this Act and has power to impose the full penalty or punishment in respect of the offence.
Minister may designate other qualifying countries
83. The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, designate any country or territory as a qualifying country for the purposes of this Act.
General power to make rules
84.—(1) The Minister may make rules —(a) for any purpose for which rules are authorised or required to be made under this Act; (b) for prescribing matters authorised or required by this Act to be prescribed; (c) for prescribing matters necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act; and (d) for prescribing matters necessary or convenient to be prescribed for the conduct of any proceedings or other matter before the Registrar. (2) Without limiting subsection (1), the rules may make provision —(a) as to the practice and procedure of any proceedings or other matter before the Registrar; (b) as to the manner of filing of applications or other documents; (c) requiring persons to make such statutory declarations as may be prescribed in support of any application, notice or request; (d) requiring and regulating the translation of documents and the filing and authentication of any translation; (e) as to the service of documents; (ea) to enable the Registrar to publish —(i) an application to rectify an error or omission in the register; and (ii) a request to amend an application, a notice or other document, and to provide for the making of objections to the rectification or amendment by a person claiming to be affected by it; [Act 7 of 2022 wef 26/05/2022] (f) authorising the rectification of irregularities of procedure; (g) prescribing time limits for anything required to be done in connection with any proceedings under this Act; (h) for the extension of any time limit which has been prescribed, or which the Registrar has specified, and which has not expired; (i) as to the giving of evidence in proceedings before the Registrar under this Act by affidavit or statutory declaration; and (j) for the processing of any application which is treated as abandoned under section 43(5).
Rules of Court
85. The Rules Committee constituted under section 80(3) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969 may make rules with respect to —(a) proceedings and the practice and procedure of the Court in respect of any matter under this Act; and (b) the fees and costs of such proceedings.
Rights under other laws unaffected
86. Nothing in this Act affects the rights of a person under the Trade Marks Act 1998 or the law relating to passing off.
Saving and transitional provisions
88.—(1) Despite section 87, on and after 1 April 2019, the repealed Act continues to apply to —(a) every use of a geographical indication that takes place before that date; and (b) every action brought under section 3 of the repealed Act in force immediately before that date. (2) Sections 4(6) to (9), 15 and 16 do not apply to any use of a registered geographical indication that takes place before 21 November 2019. (3) Part 6 does not apply to any goods that are imported to or exported from Singapore before the date of commencement of that Part. (4) Sections 75 and 76 do not apply to any legal proceedings that are commenced before 21 November 2019. (5) The Minister may, in relation to any provision of this Act, for a period of 2 years after the date of commencement of that provision, prescribe by rules published in the Gazette such provisions of a saving or transitional nature consequent on the enactment of that provision as the Minister considers necessary or expedient.
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Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. Read the official text ↗
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