51-695: The Harris Tweed Authority ( HTA ) is an independent statutory public body created by the Harris Tweed Act 1993, replacing the Harris Tweed Association, which was formed in 1910. The Harris Tweed Authority is charged with the general duty of furthering the Harris Tweed industry as a means of livelihood for those who live in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland . The Harris Tweed Authority is responsible for safeguarding
102-459: A Harris Tweed Authority to promote and maintain the authenticity, standard and reputation of Harris Tweed; for the definition of Harris Tweed; for preventing the sale as Harris Tweed of material which does not fall within the definition; for the Authority to become the successor to The Harris Tweed Association Limited; and for other purposes incidental thereto. The entire content and provisions of
153-448: A claim that the manufacturer has verified compliance with those standards or regulations. The specific specification , test methods , and frequency of testing are published by the standards organization. Certification listing does not necessarily guarantee fitness-for-use. Validation testing, proper usage, and field testing are often needed. Certification marks can be owned by independent companies absolutely unrelated in ownership to
204-445: A common feature of these types of marks is that they may be used by more than one person, as long as the users comply with the regulations of use or standards established by the holder. Those regulations or standards may require that the mark be used only in connection with goods that have a particular geographical origin or specific characteristics. In some jurisdictions, the main difference between collective marks and certification marks
255-509: A company limited by guarantee with a registered office in London, formed with the intention of protecting the use of the name 'Harris Tweed' from imitations, such as the so-called 'Harris Tweed' of Henry Lyons or from the inferior standards of production which produced 'Stornoway Tweed', and also to establish a Harris Tweed certification mark . When this trade mark, the Orb, was eventually granted,
306-464: A corporate Commonwealth entity or a non-corporate Commonwealth entity. A statutory authority may also be a body within a Commonwealth entity, exercising the powers given by Parliament but administratively part of the entity." A statutory corporation is defined in the government glossary as a "statutory body that is a body corporate, including an entity created under section 87 of the PGPA Act" (i.e.
357-445: A legal statutory body charged under UK law with safeguarding the industry in the years ahead. The definition of Harris Tweed contained in the Harris Tweed Act 1993 clearly defines Harris Tweed as a tweed which: (a) has been handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the outer hebrides, finished in the outer hebrides, and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the outer hebrides; and (b) possesses such further characteristics as
408-400: A material is required to possess under regulations from time to time in force under the provisions of schedule 1 to the act of 1938 (or under regulations from time to time in force under any enactment replacing those provisions) for it to qualify for the application to it, and use with respect to it, of a harris tweed trade mark. The act also set out: to make provision for the establishment of
459-666: A statutory authority may be a statutory corporation). An earlier definition describes a statutory corporation as "a statutory authority that is a body corporate", and the New South Wales Government 's Land Registry Services defines a state-owned corporation as "a statutory authority that has corporate status". Statutory authorities at the State or Territory level are established under corresponding State or Territory laws. Each statutory authority tends to have its own enabling legislation, or originating act , even if it
510-462: Is a body set up by law ( statute ) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being empowered or delegated to set rules (for example regulations or statutory instruments ) in their field. They are typically found in countries which are governed by a British style of parliamentary democracy such as the United Kingdom and
561-533: Is also applied to woven labels, which are issued to customers when they purchase Harris Tweed. The Harris Tweed Orb is a registered trademark and must not be used or reproduced without the permission of the Harris Tweed Authority. For Autumn-Winter 1987/88, Westwood presented the ' Harris Tweed' collection which launched her long-standing relationship with the Scottish cloth, Harris tweed , and
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#1732800903782612-417: Is represented as Harris Tweed but is not Harris Tweed or any garment or other article which is represented as made (wholly or partly) from material which is Harris Tweed when it is not. Other roles and responsibilities include publicising, through advertisements or otherwise, the nature, origin and qualities of material falling within the definition of Harris Tweed and registering and maintaining in any part of
663-407: Is that the former may only be used by members of an association, while certification marks may be used by anyone who complies with the standards defined by the holder of the mark. The holder, which may be a private or a public entity, acts as a certifier verifying that the mark is used according to established standards. Generally, the holder of a certification mark does not itself have the right to use
714-483: Is to protect consumers against misleading practices. [REDACTED] New Zealand Many jurisdictions have been required to amend their trade mark legislation to accommodate protection of certification marks under the TRIPs treaty. Some jurisdictions recognise certification marks from other jurisdictions. This means good manufactured in one country may need not go through certification in another. One example
765-548: The Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), such as a municipal building inspector or fire prevention officer. Trademark laws in countries, such as the United States, Australia, and others that provide for the filing of applications to register certificate marks also usually require the submission of regulations, which define a number of issues, including: The main purpose of the regulations
816-527: The Commonwealth countries like Australia , Canada , India and New Zealand . They are also found in Israel and elsewhere. Statutory authorities may also be statutory corporations , if created as a body corporate . '. A statutory authority is a generic term for an authorisation by Parliament given to a person or group of people to exercise specific powers. A statutory authority can be established as
867-561: The landlord proprietors in both Harris and Lewis as middlemen between weavers and textile wholesalers in the south of the UK. The role of general merchants as the middlemen in the sale of Harris Tweed was a vital factor in expanding the industry away from the patronage of the land-owning gentry and into the hands of island entrepreneurs. Those merchants who built up a business dealing in tweeds often became independent producers in their own right. They would take orders for Harris Tweed, send
918-471: The methodology and origin of Harris Tweed's manufacture and claim to the name Harris Tweed applied to the cloth. As such, the Harris Tweed Authority regularly asserts legal action to protect the authenticity of Harris Tweed and curtail counterfeiting and other threats to the industry on behalf of the islanders and local weavers. Until the 1960s areas of concern were predominantly focused on: Statutory body A statutory body or statutory authority
969-415: The yarn to their chosen weavers, take back the tweeds for finishing, either locally by hand, or later by some mainland finishing company, and finally dispatch the tweed to the customer. In addition to commissioning tweeds, the general merchants also bought tweed from local weavers, using the truck system i.e. by giving credit in their store instead of cash. The merchants then sold the tweed to contacts in
1020-482: The 20th century, there was also an influx of inexperienced weavers into the industry, frequently men who had had to abandon traditional fishing work due to industry decline. The result of these two factors saw the increase in poor quality tweed made by inexperienced weavers from imported, mainland mill-spun yarn. This inferior tweed in turn affected the market for traditionally produced Harris Tweed made by experienced weavers from hand-spun island yarn. It became clear to
1071-639: The Act can be found at the Legislation.gov website managed by the United Kingdom's National Archives . The Harris Tweed Orb Mark is the United Kingdom's oldest certification mark and is recognised all over the world. Certification marks are trademarks with a difference. This ancient method of identifying products has its roots in the medieval guild system . Groups of traders, characterised by profession or location, were recognised through their guild and
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#17328009037821122-782: The Board of Trade as Application No. 319214 under section 62 of the Trade Marks Act 1905 in Class 34 and was finally registered in October 1910. The registered design consisted of a globe surmounted by a Maltese Cross , studded with 13 jewels and with the words "Harris Tweed" in the first line and, in the second line, the words "Made in Harris", "Made in Lewis" or "Made in Uist", according to
1173-417: The Harris Tweed Act's definition of Harris Tweed is not represented as being Harris Tweed including undertaking legal proceedings, to defend against infringement or likely infringement any intellectual property rights associated with the cloth and Orb trade mark. In addition they seek to prevent, or put a stop to, any person selling, exposing or offering for sale or having in their possession any material which
1224-485: The Harris Tweed Authority. The collection is often credited as being instrumental in reviving its use as a fashion fabric, thereby boosting the local industry. In the collection, she had also adopted the use of the Orb logo, an orb resembling the Sovereign's Orb with a satellite ring around it like the one around Saturn. This sparked heavy controversy as it was very similar to The Orb Mark of the Harris Tweed Authority (at
1275-545: The Harris Tweed industry as a means of livelihood for those who live in the Outer Hebrides. They do this by safeguarding the standard and reputation of, promoting awareness in all parts of the world of, and disseminating information about, material falling within the definition of Harris Tweed and articles made from it. Their most important duty is to take steps to ensure that material which does not comply with
1326-465: The association concerned that the new trade mark laws could move direct control of their Orb Mark to the owners of the vested interests of the Harris Tweed companies. This move of control from an independent association to the commercial producers threatened an erosion of Harris Tweed's craft status and connection to the islands of the Outer Hebrides due to inevitable economic pressures to reduce costs and move production elsewhere. The association concluded
1377-613: The best option was to transform the association into a public law body, i.e., legal persons governed by public law with statutory functions, one of which would be safeguarding the Orb trade mark. Taking a lead from two previous Acts of Parliament, the Scotch Whisky Act 1988 and the Sea Fish Industry Authority under the Fisheries Act 1981 , both of which had set out an appropriate mechanism for
1428-453: The board insisted that it should be granted to all the islands of the Outer Hebrides, i.e. to Lewis, North and South Uist , Benbecula and Barra, as well as to Harris, the rationale for this decision being that the tweed was made in exactly the same way in all those islands. The Harris Tweed Association existed until 1993, when it was replaced by the Harris Tweed Authority under the terms of the Harris Tweed Act 1993. The Harris Tweed Authority
1479-416: The companies, offering goods or rendering services under the particular certification mark. The USPTO states that a certification mark is "a type of trademark ". However, it "is a special creature, created for a purpose uniquely different from that of a trademark or service mark", since: However, what is meant by a collective trade marks or certification mark differs from country to country. However,
1530-463: The following areas; Certification mark A certification mark on a commercial product or service is a registered mark that enables its owner (" certification body ") to certify that the goods or services of a particular provider (who is not the owner of the certification mark) have particular properties, e.g., regional or other origin, material, quality, accuracy, mode of manufacture, being produced by union labor , etc. The standards to which
1581-475: The formation of the Harris Tweed Association in 1909 there have been numerous legal challenges to the definition of genuine Harris Tweed. Great importance is placed on Harris Tweed to the fragile economy of the Outer Hebrides and its historic connection to the islands. However, the success of the industry has meant that competitors often try to imitate Harris Tweed or "pass off" other fabrics, made elsewhere, as genuine. Much of these have arisen over issues regarding
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1632-470: The island capital of Stornoway the active office of the Harris Tweed Authority consists of a chief executive, secretary and two inspectors / stampers. There is also an overseeing board of ten unpaid members drawn from the local community who oversee the work of the authority and meets in Stornoway. Under the Harris Tweed Act 1993, the Harris Tweed Authority is charged with the general duty of furthering
1683-712: The island mills and has two inspectors who visit each mill to inspect the processes and final product and issue the Orb Mark stamps and labels. The inspectors also visit local weavers loom sheds to ensure their Harris tweed is being woven by hand at all times. As of 2011 the Harris Tweed Authority has a comprehensive internet presence consisting of a dedicated information website and a range of social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo, KILTR and Pinterest which are used to interact with customers and disseminate news, information and images pertaining to Harris Tweed history, heritage and ongoing activities. Since
1734-412: The island wool which had been sent to the mill, or even that the yarn was made from 100% pure virgin wool as was tradition. It was by no means unheard of for unscrupulous spinning mills, particularly in the north of England, to introduce a proportion of re-cycled wool or even cotton "shoddy", ( Recycled wool ) to make the new wool go further. As the demand for Harris Tweed expanded in the first decade of
1785-485: The local general merchants that strong legal protection of the good name of Harris Tweed by a trade mark and an established standard definition had therefore become essential to the developing industry. This led to groups of merchants in both Lewis and Harris applying to the Board of Trade for a registered trade mark. On 9 December 1909, a group of these merchants joined together to create The Harris Tweed Association Ltd.,
1836-505: The mark. For various reasons, usually relating to technical issues, certification marks are difficult to register, especially in relation to services. One practical workaround for trademark owners is to register the mark as an ordinary trademark in relation to quality control and similar services. Certification is often mistakenly referred to as an approval , which is not true. Organizations such as Underwriters Laboratories , TÜV Rheinland , NTA Inc , and CSA International will test
1887-404: The old association. A draft bill for a Harris Tweed Act was also drawn up to reflect these proposed changes with the express aim of protecting the intellectual property of Harris Tweed as a local asset to the communities of the Outer Hebrides. By December 1990, the final draft of the bill and been circulated, and by April 1991, the eleven members of the Harris Tweed Association unanimously approved
1938-505: The place of manufacture. Every 58-metre (190 ft. 3.465"), and 75-metre (246 ft. 0.756") length of Harris Tweed produced by the Harris Tweed mills is inspected by a Harris Tweed Authority inspector and "stamped" with an iron-on transfer of the Orb certification mark as outlined above. Typically the mark is applied at the selvedge , one at the corner of each end and one at the half-way point. Customers may request additional marks to be applied at different points also. The Orb certification mark
1989-414: The product is held are stipulated by the owner of the certification mark. There are essentially three general types of certification marks: The term "certification mark" is very recent, so while discussing historical certification marks, terms "guild sign", "quality mark", " hallmark ", and "trade mark" are used by researchers. A certification mark indicates a property standard or regulation and
2040-432: The products according to standard procedures and "list" them as compliant to that standard. They do not approve anything except the use of the mark to show that a product has been certified for compliance with such specific standard. Thus, for instance, a product certification mark for a fire door or for a spray fireproofing product does not signify its universal acceptance for use within a building . Approvals are up to
2091-565: The protection and promotion of a Scottish product, a proposal was submitted to the Department of Trade and Industry. The proposal included the statutory definition of Harris Tweed outlining the legal remedies it could undertake, an appeals procedure, a provision for the dissolution of the Harris Tweed Association Ltd. and for a new Harris Tweed Authority to take over, assuming control of the assets and trademarks of
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2142-456: The reputation that was associated with it, guaranteeing that goods or services meet a defined standard or possess a particular characteristic. An application was submitted in the name of the Harris Tweed Association for a standardisation mark, now known as a certification mark, affording much stronger protection that an ordinary trademark would. The trademark was applied for in February 1910 to
2193-564: The same fashion as an act of parliament, but usually with specific initials (depending on the authority) and a number. Just as with laws enacted by Parliament, all laws made by a statutory authority must be published in the Government Gazette. The Parliament of Australia , or a State or Territory Parliament , will delegate its authority to a statutory authority for several reasons; The power to enact legislation has been delegated by Australian Parliaments (State and/or Federal) in
2244-411: The south of the country. A weaver who earned his livelihood from commercial weaving, as opposed to domestic weaving, had to have a ready supply of yarn and often it was only mill-spun yarn brought in from the mainland of Scotland that could give him that supply. The great danger of using machine-spun yarn from a mainland mill was that nobody could guarantee that the yarn which came back had been made from
2295-505: The standard and reputation of Harris Tweed, promoting awareness of the cloth internationally, and disseminating information about material falling within the definition of Harris Tweed and articles made from it. In addition, the Harris Tweed Authority is involved in instigating litigation against counterfeiting , as well as the process of inspections and issuing of the Harris Tweed Orb trade mark . The authority has its seat in
2346-591: The terms, subject to such alterations as the Parliament of the United Kingdom might think fit to make to it. Readings of the bill took place in early 1991 and, after some procedural difficulties with regard to European Law, received the Royal Assent in July 1993. After 82 years as voluntary guardian of the Harris Tweed industry and Orb trade marks, the Harris Tweed Association became the Harris Tweed Authority,
2397-608: The time named The Harris Tweed Association ). Following her death, The Harris Tweed Authority released the following statement: In the late 1980’s Vivienne Westwood commenced use of a logo which, we consider, acknowledged her connections with and affection for our cherished cloth. Whilst that may not have been well received by everyone in the Harris Tweed® industry, subsequently both brands have very successfully collaborated to their mutual benefit. We hope and expect that collaboration will continue for many years to come. Based in
2448-469: The town of Stornoway in the Isle of Lewis . The Harris Tweed Association was the predecessor of the Harris Tweed Authority and existed from 1910 to 1993, whereupon it was replaced under the terms of the Harris Tweed Act 1993. At the turn of the 20th century, the development of the Harris Tweed industry was growing. Small independent producers, often entrepreneurial general merchants, had largely supplanted
2499-429: The world intellectual property rights including patents, trade marks and other marks and designs, and to authorise the user of such intellectual property on such lawful terms and conditions as the Authority may think fit. The authority works with a team of lawyers and pursues cases in over 30 countries in which the Orb mark is registered. The authority is responsible for inspecting every metre of Harris Tweed produced by
2550-680: Was established before the relevant over-riding legislation. For example, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) was established in 1949 by the Science and Industry Research Act , but it has since come under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 as legislation covering statutory authorities has evolved. Laws made by statutory authorities are usually referred to as regulations. They are not cited in
2601-465: Was established in 1993, replacing the Harris Tweed Association under the terms of the Harris Tweed Act 1993 . In early 1990, the UK was reviewing its trade mark law with the intention of moving towards a single trade mark system for the whole European Community . The Harris Tweed Association had already faced difficulties presented by different trade mark laws in different countries, leaving
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