PART IV.—TRADE MARKS.

80. —(1) There shall be kept at the Office a book called the register of trade marks, wherein shall be entered all registered trade marks with the names and addresses of their proprietors, notification of assignments and transmissions, disclaimers, conditions, limitations, and such other matters relating to such trade marks as may from time to time be prescribed.

(2) The register of trade marks shall be kept under the control and management of the controller.

(3) The register of trade marks shall be divided into two parts to be called Part A and Part B, which parts shall respectively comprise the trade marks directed by this Act to be registered therein respectively.

81. —A trade mark must be registered in respect of particular goods or classes of goods.

82. —(1) In order to be capable of registration in Part A of the register, a trade mark must contain or consist of at least one of the following essential particulars:—

(a) the name of a company, individual, or firm represented in a special or particular manner;

(b) the signature of the applicant for registration or some predecessor in his business;

(c) an invented word or invented words;

(d) a word or words having no direct reference to the character or quality of the goods, and not being according to its ordinary signification a geographical name or a surname;

(e) any other distinctive mark, but a name, signature, or word or words, other than such as fall within the descriptions in the above paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d), shall not be registrable under the provisions of this paragraph, except upon evidence of its distinctiveness.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of the foregoing sub-section, any special or distinctive word or words, letter, numeral, or combination of letters or numerals used as a trade mark by the applicant or his predecessors in business before the thirteenth day of August one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, which has continued to be used (either in its original form or with additions or alterations not substantially affecting the identity of the same) down to the date of the application for registration shall be registrable as a trade mark under this Act.

(3) For the purposes of this section “distinctive” shall mean adapted to distinguish the goods of the proprietor of the trade mark from those of other persons, and in determining whether a trade mark is so adapted, the tribunal may, in the case of a trade mark in actual use, take into consideration the extent to which such user has rendered such trade mark in fact distinctive for the goods with respect to which it is registered or proposed to be registered.

83. —A trade mark may be limited in whole or in part to one or more specified colours, and in such case the fact that it is so limited shall be taken into consideration by any tribunal having to decide on the distinctive character of such trade mark. If and so far as a trade mark is registered without limitation of colour it shall be deemed to be registered for all colours.

84. —It shall not be lawful to register as a trade mark or part of a trade mark any matter, the use of which would by reason of its being calculated to deceive or otherwise be disentitled to protection in a court of justice.

85. —(1) Any person claiming to be the proprietor of a trade mark who is desirous of registering the same in Part A of the register must apply in writing to the controller in the prescribed manner.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act the controller may refuse such application, or may accept it absolutely or subject to conditions, amendments, or modifications, or to such limitations, if any, as to mode or place of user or otherwise as he may think right to impose.

(3) In case of any such refusal or conditional acceptance the controller shall, if required by the applicant, state in writing the grounds of his decision and the materials used by him in arriving at the same, and such decision shall be subject to appeal to the Minister or to the court at the option of the applicant.

(4) An appeal under this section shall be made in the prescribed manner, and on such appeal the Minister or the court, as the case may be, shall, if required, hear the applicant and the controller, and shall make an order determining whether, and subject to what conditions, amendments, or modifications, if any, or to what limitations, if any, as to mode or place of user or otherwise, the application is to be accepted.

(5) Appeals under this section shall be heard on the materials so stated by the controller to have been used by him in arriving at his decision, and no further grounds of objection to the acceptance of the application shall be allowed to be taken by the controller other than those stated by him, except by leave of the tribunal hearing the appeal. When any further grounds of objection are taken the applicant shall be entitled to withdraw his application without payment of costs on giving notice as prescribed.

(6) The controller or the Minister or the court, as the case may be, may at any time, whether before or after acceptance, correct any error in or in connexion with the application, or may permit the applicant to amend his application upon such terms as they may think fit.

86. —(1) Where any mark has for not less than two years been bonâ fide used in Saorstát Eireann upon or in connection with any goods (whether for sale in Saorstát Eireann or exportation abroad), for the purpose of indicating that they are the goods of the proprietor of the mark by virtue of manufacture, selection, certification, dealing with or offering for sale, the person claiming to be the proprietor of the mark may apply in writing to the controller in the prescribed manner to have the mark entered as his registered trade mark in Part B of the register in respect of such goods.

(2) The controller shall consider every such application for registration of a trade mark in Part B of the register, and if it appears to him, after such search, if any, as he may deem necessary, that the registration of the trade mark is prohibited by this Act or if he is not satisfied that the mark has been so used as aforesaid, or that it is capable of distinguishing the goods of the applicant, he may refuse the application, or may accept it subject to conditions, amendments or modifications as to the goods or classes of goods in respect of which the mark is to be registered, or to such limitations, if any, as to mode or place of user or otherwise as he may think right to impose, and in any other case he shall accept the application, but every acceptance of any such application shall be subject to the provisions of this Act.

(3) Every such application shall be accompanied by a statutory declaration verifying the user, including the date of first user, and such date shall be entered on the register.

(4) Any such refusal or conditional acceptance shall be subject to appeal to the court, and, if the ground for refusal is insufficiency of evidence as to user, such refusal shall be without prejudice to any application for registration of the trade mark in Part A of the register.

(5) A mark may be registered in Part B of the register notwithstanding any registration in Part A of the register by the same proprietor of the same mark or any part or parts thereof.

87. —If any person applies for the registration of a trade mark in Part A of the register, the controller may, if the applicant is willing, instead of refusing the application, treat it as an application for registration in Part B of the register, and deal with the application accordingly.

88. —(1) Any person or the legal representative or assignee of any person who applied after the 6th day of December, 1921, and before the commencement of this Part of this Act to the Minister for Economic Affairs of the late Provisional Government of Ireland or to the Minister for Industry and Commerce of Saorstát Eireann for the registration of a trade mark shall be entitled to apply under this Act within one year after the commencement of this Part of this Act for the registration of the same trade mark and shall be entitled to have such application under this Act dated and treated as having been made as of the date of the first-mentioned application for all purposes including the date as of which the trade mark is to be registered.

(2) Any person or the legal representative or assignee of any person who has obtained between the 6th day of December, 1921, and the commencement of this Part of this Act protection for a trade mark in any British dominion (other than Great Britain and Northern Ireland) or foreign state to which the provisions of section 152 (which relates to international arrangements) of this Act are applied or declared to be applicable by order made under that section shall be entitled to apply under this Act within one year after the commencement of this Part of this Act for the registration of the same trade mark and shall be entitled to have the said application under this Act dated and treated as having been made as of the date of the application for protection of the said trade mark in such British dominion or foreign state for all purposes including the date as of which the trade mark is to be registered.

(3) Any person who applies under the provisions of this section for the registration of a trade mark (hereinafter called the first mentioned trade mark) may at any time before the completion of such registration apply to the controller for the removal from the register of any trade mark (hereinafter called the second mentioned trade mark) registered under section 89 (which relates to the registration of trade marks registered in the Patent Office in London) of this Act as of any date between the 6th day of December, 1921, and the commencement of this Part of this Act but subsequent to the date as of which the first-mentioned trade mark might be registered and on such application the controller may remove the second-mentioned trade mark from the register on any ground on which the registration of such second-mentioned trade mark could have been successfully opposed by the applicant for such removal but on no other ground.

(4) An appeal shall lie to the law officer from every decision of the controller on an application for removal under the foregoing sub-section.

89. —(1) The person who is for the time being registered in the Patent Office in London as the proprietor of a trade mark which is registered in that office at the commencement of this Part of this Act (including a mark registered under section 62 of the Trade Marks Act, 1905) shall, on payment of the prescribed fee and furnishing to the controller for registration certified copies of such trade mark and of the entries in the British register relating thereto, be entitled at any time within six months after the commencement of this Part of this Act to have such trade mark registered under this Act in the register of trade marks in the Office in the like part of the register and in respect of the like goods or classes of goods and subject to the same notifications and other matters as such trade mark is registered in and subject to in the Patent Office in London at the date of the application for registration under this Act and also subject to any further limitations imposed by this Act and applicable to such trade mark.

(2) For all purposes under this Act a trade mark registered pursuant to this section shall be deemed to have been first registered under this Act on the date on which such trade mark was first registered in the Patent Office in London notwithstanding that such date is prior to the passing of this Act or to the commencement of this Part of this Act and (whenever appropriate) the registration of such trade mark shall be deemed to have been renewed under this Act on the date or respective dates and for the period or respective periods on and for which the registration of such trade mark in the Patent Office in London was renewed in that Office before the registration of such trade mark pursuant to this section whether such date or dates was or respectively were prior or subsequent to the passing of this Act or to the commencement of this Part of this Act.

90. —(1) When an application for registration of a trade mark has been accepted, whether absolutely or subject to conditions and limitations, the controller shall, as soon as may be after such acceptance, cause the application as accepted to be advertised in the prescribed manner, and every such advertisement shall set forth all conditions and limitations subject to which the application has been accepted.

(2) In any case in which he deems it is expedient so to do the controller may cause an application for registration of a trade mark to be advertised before acceptance thereof, and whenever an application is so advertised it shall not be necessary to make the advertisement required by sub-section (1) of this section.

(3) This section shall not apply to an application for registration of a trade mark which is registered in the Patent Office in London and was first so registered at the commencement of this Part of this Act.

91. —(1) Any person may, within the prescribed time from the date of the advertisement of an application for registration of a trade mark, give notice to the controller of opposition to such registration.

(2) Such notice shall be given in writing in the prescribed manner, and shall include a statement of the grounds of opposition.

(3) The controller shall send a copy of such notice to the applicant, and within the prescribed time after the receipt of such notice, the applicant shall send to the controller in the prescribed manner, a counter-statement of the grounds on which he relies for his application, and, if he does not do so, he shall be deemed to have abandoned his application.

(4) If the applicant sends such counter-statement, the controller shall furnish a copy thereof to the persons giving notice of opposition, and shall, after hearing the parties, if so required, and considering the evidence, decide whether, and subject to what conditions or what limitations as to mode or place of user or otherwise, registration is to be permitted.

(5) The decision of the controller shall be subject to appeal to the court.

(6) An appeal under this section shall be made in the prescribed manner, and on such appeal the court shall, if required, hear the parties and the controller, and shall make an order determining whether, and subject to what conditions, if any, or what limitations, if any, as to mode or place of user or otherwise, registration is to be permitted.

(7) On the hearing of any such appeal any party may either in the manner prescribed or by special leave of the court bring forward further material for the consideration of the court.

(8) In proceedings under this section no further grounds of objection to the registration of a trade mark shall be allowed to be taken by the opponent or the controller other than those stated by the opponent as herein-above provided except by leave of the court. Where any further grounds of objection are taken the applicant shall be entitled to withdraw his application without payment of the costs of the opponent on giving notice as prescribed.

(9) In any appeal under this section in relation to registration in Part A of the register, the court may, after hearing the controller, permit the trade mark proposed to be registered to be modified in any manner not substantially affecting the identity of such trade mark, but in such case the trade mark as so modified shall be advertised in the prescribed manner before being registered.

92. —If a trade mark in respect of which an application is made to enter or which has been entered in Part A of the register contains parts not separately registered by the proprietor as trade marks, or if it contains matter common to the trade or otherwise of a non-distinctive character, the controller or the Minister or the court, in deciding whether such trade mark shall be entered or shall remain upon that Part of the register, may require, as a condition of its being upon that Part of the register, that the proprietor shall disclaim any right to the exclusive use of any part or parts of such trade mark, or of all or any portion of such matter, to the exclusive use of which they hold him not to be entitled, or that he shall make such other disclaimer as they may consider needful for the purpose of defining his rights under such registration: Provided always that no disclaimer upon the register shall affect any rights of the proprietor of a trade mark except such as arise out of the registration of the trade mark in respect of which the disclaimer is made.

93. —When an application for registration of a trade mark has been accepted and has not been opposed, and the time for notice of opposition has expired, or having been opposed the opposition has been decided in favour of the applicant, the controller shall, unless the mark has been accepted in error or the Minister otherwise directs, register the said trade mark, and the trade mark, when registered, shall be registered as of the date of the application for registration, and such date shall be deemed for the purpose of this Act to be the date of registration.

94. —On the registration of a trade mark the controller shall issue to the applicant a certificate in the prescribed form of the registration of such trade mark under the hand and sealed with the seal of the controller.

95. —Where registration of a trade mark is not completed within twelve months from the date of the application by reason of default on the part of the applicant, the controller may, after giving notice of the non-completion to the applicant in writing in the prescribed manner, treat the application as abandoned unless it is completed within the time specified in that behalf in such notice.

96. —Except by order of the court or in the case of trade marks in use before the thirteenth day of August one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, no trade mark shall be registered in respect of any goods or description of goods which is identical with one belonging to a different proprietor which is already on the register with respect to such goods or description of goods, or so nearly resembling such a trade mark as to be calculated to deceive.

97. —Where each of several persons claims to be proprietor of the same trade mark, or of nearly identical trade marks in respect of the same goods or description of goods, and to be registered as such proprietor, the controller may refuse to register any of them until their rights have been determined by the court, or have been settled by agreement in a manner approved by him or (on appeal) by the Minister.

98. —In case of honest concurrent user or of other special circumstances which, in the opinion of the court or the controller make it proper so to do, the court or the controller may permit the registration of the same trade mark, or of nearly identical trade marks, for the same goods or description of goods by more than one proprietor subject to such conditions and limitations, if any, as to mode or place of user or otherwise as the court or the controller, as the case may be, may think it right to impose.

99. —(1) Save as otherwise provided by this Act, a trade mark when registered shall be assigned and transmitted only in connexion with the goodwill of the business concerned in the goods for which it has been registered and shall be determinable with that goodwill.

(2) Nothing in this section contained shall be deemed to affect the right of the proprietor of a registered trade mark to assign the right to use the same in any British dominion or protectorate or any foreign country in connexion with any goods for which it is registered together with the goodwill of the business therein in such goods, and the assignment of such right to use the same shall constitute the assignee a proprietor of a separate trade mark for the purpose of the immediately preceding section, subject to such conditions and limitations as may be imposed under that section.

100. —(1) In any case where from any cause, whether by reason of dissolution of partnership or otherwise, a person ceases to carry on business, and the goodwill of such person does not pass to one successor but is divided, the controller may (subject to the provisions of this Act as to associated trade marks), on the application of the parties interested, permit an apportionment of the registered trade marks of the person among the persons in fact continuing the business, subject to such conditions and modifications, if any, and to such limitations, if any, as to mode or place of user as he may think necessary in the public interest.

(2) Every decision of the controller under this section shall be subject to appeal to the Minister.

101. —If application be made for the registration in Part A of the register of a trade mark identical with or so closely resembling a trade mark of the applicant already on that Part of the register for the same goods or description of goods as to be calculated to deceive or cause confusion if used by a person other than the applicant, the tribunal hearing the application may require as a condition of registration that such trade marks shall be entered on the register as associated trade marks.

102. —If the proprietor of a trade mark registered in Part A of the register claims to be entitled to the exclusive use of any portion of such trade mark separately he may apply to register the same in the said Part A as separate trade marks. Each such separate trade mark must satisfy all the conditions and shall have all the incidents of an independent trade mark, except that when registered it and the trade mark of which it forms a part shall be deemed to be associated trade marks and shall be entered on the register as such, but the user of the whole trade mark shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be also a user of such registered trade marks belonging to the same proprietor as it contains.

103. —(1) When a person claiming to be the proprietor of several trade marks for the same description of goods which, while resembling each other in the material particulars thereof, yet differ in respect of—

(a) statements of the goods for which they are respectively used or proposed to be used; or

(b) statements of number, price, quality, or names of places; or

(c) other matter of a non-distinctive character which does not substantially affect the identity of the trade mark; or

(d) colour;

seeks to register such trade marks, they may be registered as a series in one registration.

(2) All the trade marks in a series of trade marks registered under this section shall if registered in Part A of the register be deemed to be, and shall be registered as, associated trade marks.

104. —Associated trade marks shall be assignable or transmissible only as a whole and not separately, but they shall for all other purposes be deemed to have been registered as separate trade marks: Provided that where under the provisions of this Act user of a registered trade mark is required to be proved for any purpose, the tribunal may if and so far as it shall think right accept user of an associated registered trade mark, or of the trade mark with additions or alterations not substantially affecting its identity, as an equivalent for such user.

105. —The registration of a trade mark shall be for a period of fourteen years, but may be renewed from time to time in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

106. —The controller shall, on application made by the registered proprietor of a trade mark in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed period, renew the registration of such trade mark for a period of fourteen years from the expiration of the original registration or of the last renewal of registration, as the case may be, which date is in this Act termed “the expiration of the last registration.”

107. —At the prescribed time before the expiration of the last registration of a trade mark, the controller shall send notice in the prescribed manner to the registered proprietor at his registered address of the date at which the existing registration will expire and the conditions as to payment of fees and otherwise upon which a renewal of such registration may be obtained, and if at the expiration of the time prescribed in that behalf such conditions have not been duly complied with, the controller may remove such trade mark from the register, subject to such conditions (if any) as to its restoration to the register as may be prescribed.

108. —Where a trade mark registered in Part A of the register has been removed from the register for non-payment of the fee for renewal, such trade mark shall, nevertheless, for the purpose of any application for registration during one year next after the date of such removal, be deemed to be a trade mark which is already registered, unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the controller that there had been no bonâ fide trade user of such trade mark during the two years immediately preceding such removal.

109. —(1) Where in the case of an article or substance manufactured under any patent in force at or granted after the commencement of this Part of this Act, a word trade mark registered under this Act is the name or only practicable name of the article or substance so manufactured, all rights to the exclusive use of such trade mark, whether under the common law or by registration, shall cease upon the expiration or determination of the patent, and thereafter such word shall not be deemed a distinctive mark, and may be removed by the court from the register on the application of any person aggrieved.

(2) No word which is the only practicable name or description of any single chemical element or single chemical compound, as distinguished from a mixture, shall be registered as a trade mark, and any such word may be removed by the court from the register on the application of any person aggrieved:

Provided that the provisions of this sub-section shall not apply where the mark is used to denote only the proprietor's brand or make of such substance, as distinguished from the substance as made by others, and in association with a suitable and practicable name open to the public use.

(3) The power to remove a trade mark from the register conferred by this section shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other powers of the court in respect of the removal of trade marks from the register.

(4) An application under this section may, at the option of the applicant, be made in the first instance to the controller, and in such case the controller shall have all the powers of the court under this section, but his decision shall be subject to appeal to the court.

110. —The registered proprietor of any trade mark may apply in the prescribed manner to the controller for leave to add to or alter such trade mark in any manner not substantially affecting the identity of the same, and the controller may refuse such leave or may grant the same on such terms and subject to such limitations as to mode or place of user as he may think fit, but any such refusal or conditional permission shall be subject to appeal to the Minister. If leave be granted, the trade mark as altered shall be advertised in the prescribed manner.

111. —(1) A registered trade mark may, on the application to the court of any person aggrieved, be taken off the register in respect of any of the goods for which it is registered, on the ground that it was registered by the proprietor or a predecessor in title without any bonâ fide intention to use the same in connexion with such goods, and there has in fact been no bonâ fide user of the same in connexion therewith, or on the ground that there has been no bonâ fide user of such trade mark in connexion with such goods during the five years immediately preceding the application, unless in either case such non-user is shown to be due to special circumstances in the trade, and not to any intention not to use or to abandon such trade mark in respect of such goods.

(2) Any application under this section may, at the option of the applicant, be made in the first instance to the controller, and in such case the controller shall have all the powers of the court under this section, but his decision shall be subject to appeal to the court.

112. —Subject to the provisions of this Act—

(a) the person for the time being entered in the register as proprietor of a trade mark shall, subject to any rights appearing from such register to be vested in any other person, have power to assign the same, and to give effectual receipts for any consideration for such assignment;

(b) any equities in respect of a trade mark may be enforced in like manner as in respect of any other personal property.

113. —(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act relating to the registration of identical or nearly identical trade marks and to any limitations and conditions entered upon the register, the registration of a person in Part A of the register as proprietor of a trade mark shall, if valid, give to such person the exclusive right to the use of such trade mark upon or in connexion with the goods in respect of which it is registered.

(2) Where two or more persons are registered in either Part of the register as proprietors of the same (or substantially the same) trade mark in respect of the same goods, no rights of exclusive user of such trade mark shall (except so far as their respective rights shall have been defined by the court) be acquired by any one of such persons as against any other by the registration thereof, but each of such persons shall otherwise have the same rights as if he were the sole registered proprietor thereof.

114. —The registration of a person as the proprietor of a trade mark in Part B of the register shall be primâ facie evidence that that person has the exclusive right to the use of that trade mark, but, in any action for infringement of a trade mark entered in Part B of the register, no injunction or other relief shall be granted to the owner of the trade mark in respect of such registration, if the defendant establishes to the satisfaction of the court that the user of which the plaintiff complains is not calculated to deceive or to lead to the belief that the goods the subject of such user were goods manufactured, selected, certified, dealt with, or offered for sale by the proprietor of the trade mark.

115. —In all legal proceedings relating to a registered trade mark (including applications for rectification of the register) the fact that a person is registered as proprietor of such trade mark shall be primâ facie evidence of the validity of the original registration of such trade mark and of all subsequent assignments and transmissions of the same.

116. —(1) In all legal proceedings relating to a trade mark registered in Part A of the register (including applications for the rectification of the register) the original registration of such trade mark shall after the expiration of seven years from the date of such original registration be taken to be valid in all respects unless such original registration was obtained by fraud, or unless the trade mark is a trade mark the registration of which is prohibited by section 84 (which relates to deceptive or misleading trade marks) or section 138 (which relates to inventions, etc., contrary to law or morality) of this Act.

(2) Nothing in this Act shall entitle the proprietor of a trade mark registered in either Part of the register to interfere with or restrain the user by any person of a similar trade mark upon or in connexion with goods upon or in connexion with which such person has, by himself or his predecessors in business, continuously used such trade mark from a date anterior to the user or registration whichever is the earlier of the first-mentioned trade mark by the proprietor thereof or his predecessors in business, or to object (on such user being proved) to such person being put upon the register for such similar trade mark in respect of such goods under the provisions of this Act relating to the registration of identical or nearly identical trade marks.

117. —(1) No person shall be entitled to institute any proceeding to prevent or to recover damages for the infringement of an unregistered trade mark unless such trade mark was in use before the thirteenth day of August one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and either has been refused registration under this Act, or has been, before the commencement of this Part of this Act, refused registration in the Patent Office in London.

(2) The controller may, on request, grant a certificate that registration under this Act has been refused.

118. —In any action or proceeding relating to a trade mark or trade name the tribunal shall admit evidence of the usages of the trade concerned and of any relevant trade mark or trade name or get up legitimately used by other persons.

119. —No registration under this Act shall interfere with any bonâ fide use by a person of his own name or place of business or that of any of his predecessors in business, or the use by any person of any bonâ fide description of the character or quality of his goods.

120. —Nothing in this Act contained shall be deemed to affect rights of action against any person for passing off goods as those of another person or the remedies in respect thereof.

121. —(1) Any Minister may procure the registration in Part A of the register of a mark intended to indicate the origin, material, mode of manufacture, quality, accuracy, or other characteristic of goods to which it is applied and every such mark when so registered shall be deemed to be in all respects, save as is otherwise provided by this section, a registered trade mark and the Minister by whom its registration was procured shall be and be registered as the proprietor thereof.

(2) An application for the registration of a mark under the foregoing sub-section shall be made in the prescribed manner by a Minister, and the registration of the mark shall be subject to the provisions of this Act relating to the registration of a trade mark in Part A of the register save in so far as such provisions are inconsistent with the provisions of this section.

(3) Any Minister may procure the registration in any register maintained in any place outside Saorstát Eireann of a mark (whether registered or not registered under the foregoing provisions of this section) intended to indicate the origin, material, mode of manufacture, quality, accuracy, or other characteristic of goods if and so far as and subject to such conditions as such registration is permitted by the law regulating such register, and in any such case may procure himself to be entered in such register as the proprietor of such mark.

(4) A Minister who is the registered proprietor of any such mark as is mentioned in the foregoing sub-sections of this section may grant to any person a licence to use such mark and to apply the same to all or any of the goods or classes of goods in respect of which such mark is registered but in the case of a mark registered in a register maintained in a place out of Saorstát Eireann only if and so far as the granting of such licence is permitted by the law regulating such register.

(5) Every licence granted by a Minister under the foregoing sub-section shall have effect according to the terms thereof and shall contain provisions for ensuring that the mark to which the licence relates shall be applied by the licensee only to goods grown, manufactured, or produced in Saorstát Eireann, and any such licence may also contain such terms and provisions as the Minister granting the same shall think proper and in particular provisions for ensuring that the mark to which the licence relates shall only be applied to goods of a specified quality or description.

(6) A Minister who is the registered proprietor of any such mark as aforesaid may require the controller to enter on or remove from the register in respect of such mark the words “licences not registrable,” and, whenever and so long as such words are so entered in the register, licences made by the Minister under this section in respect of such marks shall not (notwithstanding the provisions of section 127 (which relates to registration of assignments, etc.) of this Act) be or be capable of being entered in the register or be refused admission in evidence in any court merely on account of such non-entry in the register.

(7) A Minister who is the registered proprietor of any such mark as aforesaid may at any time take such lawful steps, whether by action, prosecution at law, or otherwise as he shall think proper to prevent, restrain, or punish infringements of or otherwise to protect such mark and may take such steps in Saorstát Eireann or any other country in which he is registered as such proprietor.

(8) A mark registered under this section shall be deemed to be a trade mark within the meaning of any enactment heretofore passed by the Oireachtas relating to the registration of trade marks by Ministers.

(9) In this section the word “Minister” means a Minister head of a Department of State established under the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924 (No. 16 of 1924).

122. —It shall be lawful for the Minister to take in any country or place outside Saorstát Eireann such lawful steps, whether by way of action or prosecution at law or otherwise, as he shall think proper to prevent, restrain, or punish the registration, use, or application in relation to or in respect of goods not grown, produced, or manufactured in Ireland of any trade mark or other mark or description indicating or suggesting or likely to lead to the belief that the goods in respect of which or to which such trade mark, mark, or description is used or applied were grown, manufactured, or produced in Ireland.

123. —(1) Where any association or person undertakes to certify the origin, material, mode of manufacture, quality, accuracy, or other characteristic of any goods, by mark used upon or in connexion with such goods, the Minister if and so long as he is satisfied that such association or person is competent to certify as aforesaid, may if he shall judge it to be to the public advantage, permit such association or person to register such mark as a trade mark in respect of such goods, whether or not such association or person be a trade association or trader or possessed of a goodwill in connexion with such certifying. When so registered such trade mark shall be deemed in all respects to be a registered trade mark, and such association or person shall be deemed to be the proprietor thereof, save that such trade mark shall be transmissible or assignable only by permission of the Minister.

(2) The proprietor of a mark registered under this section or of a mark originally registered in the Patent Office in London under section 62 of the Trade Marks Act, 1905 and subsequently registered under section 89 (which relates to the registration of trade marks registered in the Patent Office in London) of this Act in the register of trade marks in the Office, may assign such mark to the Minister and the Minister may take an assignment thereof, and on such assignment being made section 121 (which relates to the registration of marks by Ministers) of this Act shall apply to such mark as fully as if the Minister had procured the registration thereof under the said section 121 .