2021 Georgia Code
Title 10 - Commerce and Trade
Chapter 1 - Selling and Other Trade Practices
Article 16 - Trademarks, Service Marks, and Trade Names
Part 1 - Registration and Use of Trademarks and Service Marks
§ 10-1-444. Registration of Marks
Upon compliance by the applicant with the requirements of this part, the Secretary of State shall cause a certificate of registration to be issued and delivered to the applicant. The certificate of registration shall be issued under the signature of the Secretary of State and the seal of the state and it shall show the name and business address and, if a corporation, the state of incorporation, of the person claiming ownership of the trademark or service mark; the date claimed for the first use of the trademark or service mark anywhere and the date claimed for the first use of the trademark or service mark in this state; the class of goods or services and a description of the goods or services on which the trademark or service mark is used; a reproduction of the trademark or service mark; the registration date; and the term of the registration.
(Ga. L. 1893, p. 134, § 3; Civil Code 1895, § 1738; Civil Code 1910, § 1990; Code 1933, § 106-102; Ga. L. 1949, p. 949, § 1; Ga. L. 1952, p. 134, § 9; Ga. L. 1963, p. 463, § 4; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 10; Ga. L. 2011, p. 99, § 15/HB 24.)
Editor's notes.- Ga. L. 2011, p. 99, § 101/HB 24, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the Act shall apply to any motion made or hearing or trial commenced on or after January 1, 2013.
Law reviews.- For article, "Evidence," see 27 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1 (2011). For article on the 2011 amendment of this Code section, see 28 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 1 (2011).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Registration cannot deprive another of vested right.
- Provisions as to registration were permissive and not mandatory, and a compliance by one with the provisions thereof cannot operate to deprive another of the use of a trade name or trademark previously acquired, although not thus registered, or to nullify the provisions of former Code 1933, § 37-712, that any attempt to encroach upon the business of a trader, or other person, by the use of similar trade-marks, names, or devices, with the intention of deceiving and misleading the public, was a fraud for which equity will grant relief. Womble v. Parker, 208 Ga. 378, 67 S.E.2d 133 (1951).
Cited in O'Jay Spread Co. v. Hicks, 185 Ga. 507, 195 S.E. 564 (1938); Rolls-Royce Motors, Ltd. v. A & A Fiberglass, Inc., 428 F. Supp. 689 (N.D. Ga. 1977).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 74 Am. Jur. 2d, Trademarks and Tradenames, § 55 et seq.
C.J.S.- 87 C.J.S., Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and Unfair Competition, § 243 et seq.
