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Merchandise Marks Act, 1941 (Act No. 17 of 1941, amended up to Act No. 61 of 2002), South Africa

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Latest Version in WIPO Lex
Year of Version 2003 Dates Commenced: October 18, 1941 Published: April 17, 1941 Assented: April 7, 1941 Type of Text Main IP Laws Subject Matter Trademarks Notes This consolidated version of the Merchandise Marks Act 1941 incorporates all the amendments up to January 17, 2003 (see Section 1 relating to the terms 'event' and 'protected event', and Section 15A(5) for the last amendments made by the Merchandises Marks Amendment Act 2002).

The notification by South Africa to the WTO under article 63.2 of TRIPS states:
'This Act regulates the marking of merchandise and of coverings in or with which merchandise is sold and the use of certain words or emblems in connection with business. Primarily, it outlaws false description of goods as to quality, kind, origin, measure, ownership, etc.
Sections 6 and 7 were notified under the heading Geographical Indications as Main Dedicated Regulations.
Section 6 outlaws the false application of a trade description. Geographical indications inherently describe the quality of goods and, thus, if they are falsely applied to goods, that becomes an offence in terms of this Section.
Section 7 outlaws the sale of goods with false descriptions. Goods bearing false geographical indications are prohibited from being sold in South Africa through this Section as they bear false descriptions.
This Act is in the process of amendment in order to ensure compliance with provisions of the TRIPS Agreement.
Said amendments are aimed at modernizing its provisions and to put it in resonance with the Counterfeit Goods Bill which will be promulgated soon.'

Available Texts Main text(s) Main text(s) English Merchandise Marks Act, 1941 (Act No. 17 of 1941, amended up to Act No. 61 of 2002) PDF HTML
Legislation Is amended by (2 text(s)) Is amended by (2 text(s))
Consumer Protection Act 2008 (Act No. 68 of 2008) (ZA054)
Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Act, 1997 (Act No. 38 of 1997) (ZA027)

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WIPO Lex No. ZA001