mark without (if duly required so to do within the prescribed time) giving to the applicant or registered
proprietor an opportunity of being heard.
47.
In all proceedings before the Registrar under this Act, the Registrar shall have power to award to any
party such costs as he may consider reasonable, and to direct how and by what parties they are to be
paid, and any such order may, by leave of the court or a judge thereof, be enforced in the same manner
as a judgment or order of the court to the same effect.
48.
The Registrar shall before 1st July in every year send to the Minister a report on the execution by or
under the Registrar of this Act, and on receipt of any such report, the Minister shall lay a copy thereof
before each House of the National Assembly.
Legal proceedings and appeals
49.
In all legal proceedings relating to a registered trade mark (including applications under section 38 of
this Act) the fact that a person is registered as proprietor of the trade mark shall be prima facie evidence
of the validity of the original registration of the trade mark and of all subsequent assignments and
transmissions thereof.
50.
In all legal proceedings in which the validity of the registration of a registered trade mark comes into
question and is decided in favour of the proprietor of the trade mark, the court may certify to that effect;
and if it so certifies then, in any subsequent legal proceedings in which the validity of the registration
comes into question, the proprietor of the trade mark on obtaining a final order or judgment in his favour
shall be entitled to his costs unless in the subsequent proceedings the court certifies that he ought not to
have them.
51.
In all proceedings before the court under this Act the costs of he Registrar shall be in the discretion of
the court, but the Registrar shall not be ordered to pay the costs of any other of the parties.
52.
In any action or proceeding relating to a trade mark or trade name, the tribunal shall admit evidence of
the usages of the trade concerned and of any relevant trade mark or trade name or get up legitimately
used by other persons.
53. (1)
In any legal proceedings in which the relief sought includes alteration or rectification of the
register, the Registrar shall have the right to appear and be heard, and shall appear if so directed by
the court.
(2)
Unless otherwise directed by he court, the Registrar instead of appearing and being heard may
submit to the court a statement in writing signed by him, giving particulars of the proceedings before
him in relation to the matter in issue or of the grounds of any decision given by him affecting it or of
the practice of the office of the Registrar in like cases or of such other mattes relevant to the issues,
and within his knowledge as Registrar, as he thinks fit, and the statement shall be deemed to form
part of the evidence in the proceedings.
54.
The court, in dealing with any question of he rectification of the register (including all applications
under the provisions of section 38 of this Act), shall have power to review any decision of the Registrar
relating to the entry in question or the correction sought to be made.
55.
In any appeal from a decision of the Registrar to the court under this Act, the court shall have and
exercise the same discretionary powers as under this Act are conferred upon the Registrar.
56.
Where under any of he foregoing provisions of this Act, an applicant has an option to make an
application either to the court or to the Registrar (a)
if an action concerning the trade mark in question is pending, the application must be made to
the court;
(b)
if in any other case the application is made to the Registrar, he may, at any stage of the
proceedings, refer the application to the court, or he may, after hearing the parties, determine the
question between them, subject to appeal to the court.