Trade Marks Act 1994
Encyclopedia
The Trade Marks Act 1994 is the law governing trademark
s within the United Kingdom
and the Isle of Man
. It implements EU Directive No. 89/104/EEC (The Trade Marks Directive) which forms the framework for the trade mark laws of all EU member states, and replaced an earlier law, the Trade Marks Act 1938. Although the UK's trade mark regime covers the Isle of Man, it does not extend to the Channel Islands
which have their own trade mark registers.
The Act provides both civil and criminal law sanctions for the misuse of registered trade marks.
Section 93 of the Act makes enforcement of the criminal sanctions the duty of the local Weights and Measures Authority (usually the Trading Standards
department) and imports enforcement powers from the Trade Descriptions Act.
Similar criminal law provisions are written into the related Copyright Designs and Patents Act.
The UK Patent Office, which deals with trade mark registration has recently implemented a national intelligence database 'Tellpat' which is available to enforcement officers.
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
s within the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. It implements EU Directive No. 89/104/EEC (The Trade Marks Directive) which forms the framework for the trade mark laws of all EU member states, and replaced an earlier law, the Trade Marks Act 1938. Although the UK's trade mark regime covers the Isle of Man, it does not extend to the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
which have their own trade mark registers.
The Act provides both civil and criminal law sanctions for the misuse of registered trade marks.
Section 93 of the Act makes enforcement of the criminal sanctions the duty of the local Weights and Measures Authority (usually the Trading Standards
Trading Standards
Trading Standards is the name given to local authority departments in the UK formerly known as Weights and Measures. These departments investigate commercial organisations that carry out trade in unethical ways or outside the scope of the law.-History:...
department) and imports enforcement powers from the Trade Descriptions Act.
Similar criminal law provisions are written into the related Copyright Designs and Patents Act.
The UK Patent Office, which deals with trade mark registration has recently implemented a national intelligence database 'Tellpat' which is available to enforcement officers.
External links
- Trade Marks Act 1994 (as amended, from Patent Office website)
- Trade Marks Act 1994 (original, from OPSI)