12. Application for registration

Any person claiming to be the proprietor of a trade mark used or proposed to be used by him who is desirous of registering it shall apply in writing to the Registrar in the prescribed manner for registration in Part A or B of the register.

Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Registrar may refuse the application or may accept it absolutely or subject to such conditions, amendments, modifications or limitations, as he may think right to impose.

In the case of a refusal or conditional acceptance of a trade mark, the Registrar shall, if required by the applicant, state in writing the grounds of his decision and the materials used by him in arriving at it, and the decision shall be subject to appeal to the court.

An appeal under this section shall be made in the prescribed manner, and on the appeal the court shall, if required, hear the applicant and the Registrar, and shall make an order determining whether, and subject to what conditions, amendments or modifications, if any, or to what limitations, if any, the application is to be accepted.

Appeals under this section shall be heard on the materials so stated by the Registrar to have been used by him in arriving at his decision, and no further grounds of objection to the acceptance of the application shall be allowed to be taken by the Registrar, other than those stated by him, except by leave of the court. Where any further grounds of objection are taken, the applicant shall be entitled to withdraw his application without payment of costs on giving notice in the prescribed manner.

The Registrar or the court, as the case may be, may at any time, whether before or after acceptance, correct any error in or in connection with the application, or may permit the applicant to amend his application upon such terms as the Registrar or the court may think fit.

The Registrar may refuse any amendment of an application under this section if the amendment would substantially affect the identity of the trade mark as specified in the application before amendment.

An application for the registration of a trade mark in respect of any goods or services shall not be refused, nor shall permission for such registration be withheld, on the ground only that it appears that the applicant does not use or propose to use the trade mark —

The Registrar may, as a condition of the exercise of the power conferred by subsection (8) in favour of the applicant who relies on intention to assign to a corporation as aforesaid, require him to give security for the costs of any proceedings before him relative to any opposition, and in default of such security being given may treat the application as abandoned.

Where a trade mark is registered in respect of any goods or services under the power conferred by subsection (8) in the name of an applicant who relies on intention to assign to a corporation as aforesaid, then, unless within a period of 6 months the corporation has been registered as the proprietor of the trade mark in respect of those goods or services, the registration shall cease to have effect in respect thereof at the expiration of that period, and the Registrar shall amend the register accordingly.

Where the relations between two or more persons interested in a trade mark are such that no one of them is entitled as between himself and the other or others to use the trade mark except —

Subject to subsection (11), nothing in this Act authorises the registration of two or more persons who use a trade mark independently, or propose so to use it, as joint proprietors of the trade mark.

If a person who is a party to a proceeding under this Act (not being a proceeding in a court) dies pending the proceeding, the Registrar may, on request, and on proof to his satisfaction of the transmission of the interest of the deceased person, substitute in the proceeding his successor in interest in his place, or, if the Registrar is of the opinion that the interest of the deceased person is sufficiently represented by the surviving parties, permit the proceeding to continue without the substitution of his successor in interest.

Every application under this Act shall be accompanied by such documents as may be required under the rules or by the Registrar.