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| Act of Parliament | |
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| Long title | An Act to make new provision for registered trade marks, implementing Council Directive No. 89/104/EEC of 21st December 1988 to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks; to make provision in connection with Council Regulation (EC) No. 40/94 of 20th December 1993 on the Community trade mark; to give effect to the Madrid Protocol Relating to the International Registration of Marks of 27th June 1989, and to certain provisions of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 20th March 1883, as revised and amended; and for connected purposes. |
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| Citation | 1994 c. 26 |
| Territorial extent |
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| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 21 July 1994 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repeals/revokes |
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Status: Current legislation | |
| Text of the Trade Marks Act 1994 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
| Trade Marks Act 1938 | |
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| Act of Parliament | |
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| Long title | An Act to consolidate the Trade Marks Act 1905, the Trade Marks Act, 1919, and the Trade Marks (Amendment) Act, 1937. |
| Citation | 1 & 2 Geo. 6. c. 22 |
| Territorial extent |
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| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 13 April 1938 |
| Repealed | 31 October 1994 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Trade Marks Act 1994 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Trade Marks Act 1994 (c. 26) is the law governing trade marks 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 (1 & 2 Geo. 6. c. 22).[1] 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.
- ^ Jones, Stephen; Smith, Robert (27 March 1991). "Putting trade mark law in touch with commerce". Law Society Guardian Gazette. 88 (12) – via Lexis.