BAHAMAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Judith Whitehead KC, Michaela Sumner-Budhi, Sean McWeeney Jr., Charisma Romer-Cartwright and Hubert Edwards, GrahamThompson
The Bahamas is directly impacted by global develop - ments and the levying of tariffs on goods imported into the United States increases the costs of those goods. The United States is The Bahamas’ principal trading partner. Approximately 83.3% of the country’s total imports in 2024 were from the United States, valued at an estimated BSD5 billion. Any slowdown in the economy of the United States as a result of concerns around inflationary pressures and increased cost of living may impact The Bahamas’ tourism industry. Merger control notification is not applicable in The Bahamas as there are no laws governing the same. 6.2 Merger Control Procedure There is no merger control procedure in The Bahamas. 6.3 Cartels The topic of cartels is not applicable in The Bahamas as there are no relevant laws. 6.4 Abuse of Dominant Position Abuse of dominant position is not relevant in The Bahamas. 7. Intellectual Property 7.1 Patents For the most part, the legal regime applicable to IP rights as outlined below includes: • the Industrial Property Act and related rules; • the Trade Marks Act and related regulations; and • the Copyright Act and related amendments/regula - tions. 6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification A patent for an invention is the title granted by the government to protect an invention. The right con - ferred by a patent excludes others from making, using, or selling the invention.
A patent is granted by the Bahamian government through the Intellectual Property Office through the following process: • complete the relevant forms with the necessary supporting documents; • file the completed forms at the Intellectual Property Office; and • pay the applicable fees. The entire process, from the date of submission to obtaining the Letters of Patent, could take up to one year. Generally, the term of every patent shall be 20 years from the date of the application. However, an annu - al maintenance fee, in an amount as prescribed by the Intellectual Property Office, must be paid before the expiration of the first year from the date of filing the application and thereafter before the expiration of each successive year during the term of the pat - ent. The failure to pay the annual maintenance fee will result in the lapse of the patent. Unless provided for to the contrary, a holder of an exclusive licence under a patent (as similarly a paten - tee; ie, a person entered on the register of patents) has a right to take proceedings in respect of any infringe - ment of the patent committed after the date of the licence and, in awarding damages or granting any other relief in such proceedings, the Supreme Court shall take into consideration any loss suffered or likely to be suffered by the exclusive licensee as such or, as the case may be, the profits earned by means of the infringement so far as it constitutes an infringement of the rights of the exclusive licensee as such. 7.2 Trade Marks A trade mark is a mark, symbol or picture, or a combi - nation used to distinguish goods to indicate that they are goods of the proprietor separate from the goods of others in the marketplace. A registered trade mark gives a proprietor exclusive rights to use the mark for the designated services of the mark. The registration of the trade mark is governed by the Trade Mark Act, regulations (to be promulgated) and the policies set by the Intellectual Property Office.
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