Sri Lanka’s new Intellectual Property law comes into effect introducing methodology to register Geographical Indicators

Speaker of Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Wednesday endorsed the certificate on the Intellectual Property (Amendment) Bill which was taken up for debate on the 08th and passed in Parliament.

Products such as Ceylon Cinnamon, which have made significant contributions to the Sri Lankan economy, have so far been registered as Certificate Marks under the subject of Trademarks as there was no specific methodology for registering them as such.

Thus, this will enable products such as Ceylon Tea, Ceylon Cinnamon, Ceylon Pepper, and Ceylon Cashew to register as Sri Lankan Geographical Indicators (GI), thereby establishing a legal framework to stop counterfeiting under these names.

Accordingly, this Act came into effect on Wednesday (16) as the Intellectual Property (Amendment) Act No. 8 of 2022. Acting Secretary-General of Parliament Kushani Rohanadeera and Director of Legislative Services and Director of Communications (Acting) H.E. Janakantha Silva were also present at this moment.