30.—(1) Subject to this section, a person other than the proprietor of a trade mark may be registered as a registered user thereof in respect of all or any of the goods or services in respect of which it is registered (otherwise than as a defensive trade mark) and either with or without conditions or restrictions.
(2) The use of a trade mark by a registered user thereof in relation to goods or services with which he is connected in the course of trade and in respect of which for the time being the trade mark remains registered and he is registered as a registered user, being use such as to comply with any conditions or restrictions to which his registration is subject, is referred to in this Act as the “permitted use” thereof.
(3) The permitted use of a trade mark shall be deemed to be used by the proprietor thereof, and shall be deemed not to be used by a person other than the proprietor, for the purposes of section 40 and for any other purpose for which such use is material under this Act or at common law.
(4) Subject to any agreement subsisting between the parties, a registered user of a trade mark shall be entitled to call upon the proprietor thereof to take proceedings to prevent infringement thereof, and, if the proprietor refuses or neglects to do so within two months after being so called upon, the registered user may institute proceedings for infringement in his own name as if he were the proprietor, making the proprietor a defendant. A proprietor so added as defendant shall not be liable for any costs unless he enters an appearance and takes part in the proceedings.
(5) Where it is proposed that a person should be registered as a registered user of a trade mark, the proprietor shall apply in writing to the Registrar in the prescribed manner and shall furnish the following particulars:
(a)
the identity of the trade mark;
(b)
the name and address of the user;
(c)
the goods or services to which the user agreement applies;
(d)
the particulars showing the degree of control by the proprietor over the permitted use;
(e)
any restrictions on the use of the trade mark by the user; and
(f)
the length of permitted use, and, if for a period, the duration and the date of termination of the user agreement thereof.
(6) When the requirements of subsection (5) have been complied with, if the Registrar, after considering the information furnished to him under that subsection, is satisfied that in all the circumstances the use of the trade mark by the proposed registered user, subject to any conditions or restrictions which the Registrar thinks proper, would not be contrary to the public interest, the Registrar may register the proposed registered user as a registered user in respect of the goods or services as to which he is so satisfied subject as aforesaid.
(7) The Registrar may refuse an application under this section if it appears to him that the grant thereof would tend to facilitate trafficking in a trade mark.
(8) The proprietor of a trade mark shall maintain control over the use of the trade mark and the quality of the goods or services provided by the registered user.
(9) Without prejudice to section 39, the registration of a person as a registered user —
(a)
may be varied by the Registrar as regards the goods or services in respect of which, or any conditions or restrictions subject to which, it has effect, on the application in writing in the prescribed manner of the registered proprietor of the trade mark to which the registration relates;
(b)
may be cancelled by the Registrar on the application in writing in the prescribed manner of the registered proprietor, registered user or assignee of the trade mark; or
(c)
may be cancelled by the Registrar on the application in writing in the prescribed manner of any person on any of the following grounds:
(i)
that the registered user has used the trade mark otherwise than by way of the permitted use, or in such a way as to cause, or to be likely to cause, deception or confusion;
(ii)
that the proprietor misrepresented, or failed to disclose, some fact material to the application for the registration, or that the circumstances have materially changed since the date of the registration;
(iii)
that the registration ought not to have been effected having regard to the rights vested in the applicant by virtue of a contract in the performance of which he is interested.
(10) The Registrar may at any time cancel the registration of a person as a registered user of a trade mark in respect of any goods or services in respect of which the trade mark is no longer registered.
(11) Any decision of the Registrar under this section shall be subject to appeal to the court.
(12) Nothing in this section shall confer on a registered user of a trade mark any assignable or transmissible right to the use thereof.