PROTECTING NON – CONVENTIONAL MARKS UNDER THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF SRI LANKA

As technology advances, a necessity has been arisen to expand the scope of trademark law to cover non-conventional marks. The United States of America, the European Union, and even India have enacted rules to allow for the registration and protect non-conventional marks such as colour, sound and scent marks. However, Sri Lanka does not allow to register such marks under the Sri Lankan legal context. Thus, the provisions in those jurisdictions pertaining to the registration of colour, sound and scent marks will be investigated whereas it further examines the possibility of absorbing those provisions into the legal system of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, a doctrinal research method has been utilized to collect the information as well as identify the similarities and differences between the aforesaid four jurisdictions. It is to be noted that, Sri Lanka has got the opportunity to encourage local industries to expand their products and services and ways of reaching the public, while also developing the economy of the nation and raising people’s standards of living, by amending the current trademark laws to include those non-conventional, non-visual marks.