Section 31 of TMA : Section 31: Registration To Be Prima Facie Evidence Of Validity

Explanation using Example

Let's consider a hypothetical situation where a company named "Green Earth" has registered a trade mark for their logo under The Trade Marks Act, 1999. Later, another company named "Blue Sky" files a lawsuit claiming that "Green Earth" has infringed on their logo. According to Section 31(1), in this legal proceeding, the original registration of the "Green Earth" logo and any subsequent assignments or transmissions of the logo will be considered as prima facie evidence of its validity. This means that the court will initially presume that "Green Earth" holds a valid registration for their logo.

Now, if "Blue Sky" argues that "Green Earth's" logo was not a registrable trade mark under section 9 of the Act, because it lacked distinctiveness, then according to Section 31(2), the logo will not be held invalid if "Green Earth" can prove that their logo had been so extensively used by them or their predecessor in title that it had become distinctive at the date of registration, even if they hadn't submitted evidence of this distinctiveness to the Registrar prior to registration.