PART VI

Offences

92. —(1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3), it shall be an offence for any person—

(a) to apply a mark identical to or nearly resembling a registered trade mark to goods or to material used or intended to be used for labelling, packaging or advertising goods,

(b) to sell, let for hire, offer or expose for sale or hire or distribute—

(i) goods bearing such a mark, or

(ii) material bearing such a mark which is used or intended to be used for labelling, packaging or advertising goods,

(c) to use material bearing such a mark in the course of a business for labelling, packaging or advertising goods, or

(d) to possess in the course of a business goods or material bearing such a mark with a view to doing any of the things mentioned in paragraph (a) to (c),

when that person is not entitled to use the mark in relation to the goods in question or authorised by a person who is so entitled.

(2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (3), it shall be an offence for any person to possess in the course of a business goods or material bearing a mark identical to or nearly resembling a registered trade mark with a view to enabling or assisting another person to do any of the things mentioned in subsection (1) (a), (b) or (c), knowing or having reason to believe that the other person is not entitled to use the mark in relation to the goods in question or authorised by a person who is so entitled.

(3) Any person who contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence if, but only if that person acts with a view to gain, for himself or another, or with intent to cause a loss to another and it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to show that he believed, on reasonable grounds, that he was entitled to use the trade mark in relation to the goods in question.

(4) A person who commits an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding £1,000, or to both;

(b) on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine not exceeding £100,000, or to both.

93. —(1) It shall be an offence for a person to make, or cause to be made, an entry in the register which that person knows or has reason to believe to be false.

(2) It shall be an offence for a person—

(a) to make or cause to be made anything falsely purporting to be a copy of an entry in the register, or

(b) to produce or tender or cause to be produced or tendered in evidence any such thing,

knowing or having reason to believe that it is false.

(3) A person who commits an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding £1,000, or to both,

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding £200,000, or to both.

94. —(1) It shall be an offence for a person—

(a) falsely to represent that a mark is a registered trade mark, or

(b) to make a false representation as to the goods or services for which a trade mark is registered,

knowing or having reason to believe that the representation is false.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the use in the State in relation to a trade mark—

(a) of the word “registered”, or

(b) of any other word or symbol importing a reference (express or implied) to “registration”,

shall be deemed to be a representation as to registration under this Act unless it is shown that the reference is to registration elsewhere than in the State and that the trade mark is in fact so registered for the goods or services in question.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a further fine not exceeding £100, for every day on which the offence continues.

95. —(1) Without prejudice to any liability of a partner under subsection (3), proceedings for an offence under this Act alleged to have been committed by a partnership shall be brought against the partnership in the name of the firm and not in that of the partners.

(2) A fine imposed on a partnership on its conviction in proceedings brought in accordance with subsection (1) shall be paid out of the assets of the partnership.

(3) Where a partnership is guilty of an offence under this Act, every partner, other than a partner who is proved to have been ignorant of or to have attempted to prevent the commission of the offence, shall also be guilty of the offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

(4) Where an offence under this Act which is committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any person who, when the offence was committed, was a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to be proceeded against and punished as if guilty of the offence committed by the body corporate.