20. No action for infringement of unregistered geographical indication.—(1) No person shall be
entitled to institute any proceeding to prevent, or to recover damages for, the infringement of an
unregistered geographical indication.
(2) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to affect rights of action against any person for passing off
goods as the goods of another person or the remedies in respect thereof.
21. Rights conferred by registration.—(1) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the
registration of a geographical indication shall, if valid, give,—
(a) to the registered proprietor of the geographical indication and the authorised user or users
thereof the right to obtain relief in respect of infringement of the geographical indication in the
manner provided by this Act;
(b) to the authorised user thereof the exclusive right to the use of the geographical indication in
relation to the goods in respect of which the geographical indication is registered.
(2) The exclusive right to the use of a geographical indication given under clause (b) of
sub-section (1) shall be subject to any condition and limitation to which the registration is subject.
(3) Where two or more persons are authorised users of geographical indications, which are identical
with or nearly resemble each other, the exclusive right to the use of any of those geographical indications
shall not (except so far as their respective rights are subject to any conditions or limitations entered on the
register) be deemed to have been acquired by anyone of those persons as against any other of those
persons merely by registration of the geographical indications, but each of those persons has otherwise the
same rights as against other persons as he would have if he were the sole authorised user.
22. Infringement or registered geographical indications.—(1) A registered geographical indication
is infringed by a person who, not being an authorised user thereof,—
(a) uses such geographical indication by any means in the designations or presentation of goods
that indicates or suggests that such goods originate in a geographical area other than the true place of
origin of such goods in a manner which misleads the persons as to the geographical origin of such
goods; or
(b) uses any geographical indication in such manner which constitutes an act of unfair
competition including passing off in respect of registered geographical indication.
Explanation 1.—For the purposes of this clause, “act of unfair competition” means any act of
competition contrary to honest practices in industrial or commercial matters.
Explanation 2.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby clarified that the following acts shall be
deemed to be acts of unfair competition, namely:—
(i) all acts of such a nature as to create confusion by any means whatsoever with the
establishment, the goods or the industrial or commercial activities, of a competitor;
(ii) false allegations in the course of trade of such a nature as to discredit the establishment,
the goods or the industrial or commercial activities, of a competitor;
1. Subs. by Act 33 of 2021, s. 22, for “tribunal” (w.e.f. 4-4-2021).
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(iii) geographical indications, the use of which in the course of trade is liable to mislead the
persons as to the nature, the manufacturing process, the characteristics, the suitability for their
purpose, or the quantity, of the goods;
(c) uses another geographical indication to the goods which, although literally true as to the
territory, region or locality in which the goods originate, falsely represents to the persons that the
goods originate in the territory, region or locality in respect of which such registered geographical
indication relates.
(2) The Central Government may, if it thinks necessary so to do for providing additional protection to
certain goods or classes of goods under sub-section (3), by notification in the Official Gazette, specify
such goods or class or classes of goods, for the purposes of such protection.
(3) Any person who is not an authorised user of a geographical indication registered under this Act in
respect of the goods or any class or classes of goods notified under sub-section (2), uses any other
geographical indication to such goods or class or classes of goods not originating in the place indicated by
such other geographical indication or uses such other geographical indication to such goods or class or
classes of goods even indicating the true origin of such goods or uses such other geographical indication
to such goods or class or classes of goods in translation of the true place of origin or accompanied by
expression such as “kind”, “style”, “imitation” or the like expression, shall infringe such registered
geographical indication.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, where the goods in respect of which a
geographical indication has been registered are lawfully acquired by a person other than the authorised
user of such geographical indication, further dealings in those goods by such person including processing
or packaging, shall not constitute an infringement of such geographical indication, except where the
condition of goods is impaired after they have been put in the market.
23. Registration to be prima facie evidence of validity.—(1) In all legal proceedings relating to a
geographical indication, the certificate of registration granted in this regard by the Registrar under this
Act, being a copy of the entry in the register under the seal of the Geographical Indications Registry, shall
be prima facie evidence of the validity thereof and be admissible in all courts 1
[before whom] without
further proof or production of the original.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to be affect the right of action in respect of an unregistered
geographical indication.
24. Prohibition of assignment or transmission, etc.—Notwithstanding anything contained in any
law for the time being in force, any right to a registered geographical indication shall not be the subject
matter of assignment, transmission, licensing, pledge, mortgage or any such other agreement:
Provided that on the death of an authorised user his right in a registered geographical indication shall
devolve on his successor in title under the law for the time being in force.