Act 8 Geographical Indications Act 2013 17. Prohibition of licence or assignment of geographical indication or name of place of origin. (1) The right to use a geographical indication shall not be subject to licence or assignment. (2) The owner of a registered geographical indication may transfer the registration with that part of the business to which it pertains, subject to the following conditions— (a) the transfer shall be in writing and a request to transfer the registration shall be filed with the registrar; and (b) the transfer shall be reviewed in accordance with regulations made under this Act to determine that all material conditions remain unchanged except for the identity of the entity producing the goods that are subject to the registration; and where no differences are noted, the transfer will be recorded and a corrected certificate issued, and if not, the transfer will be refused, subject to the right of the new owner of the business to file an original application to register the geographical indication. (3) The right to use the name of the place of origin of goods shall not be subject to transfer, licence or assignment. 18. Prohibition of registration of exclusive geographical name as a trademark. (1) The registrar of trademarks shall refuse to register a mark that consists exclusively of a geographical name unless the mark is determined to be distinctive by the registrar of trademarks or by the court. (2) The registration of a trademark for wines which contains or consists of a geographical indication identifying wines, or of a trademark for spirits which contains or consists of a geographical indication identifying spirits, shall be refused or invalidated by the registrar on the registrar’s motion or at the request of an interested party with respect to the wines or spirits not having that origin. 16