BAHAMAS Law and Practice Contributed by: Judith Whitehead KC, Graham Thompson
7.2 Trade Marks A trade mark is a mark, symbol or picture, or a combination used to distinguish goods to indi - cate that they are goods of the proprietor sepa - rate from the goods of others in the marketplace. A registered trade mark gives a proprietor exclu - sive 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 prom - ulgated) and the policies set by the Intellectual Property Office. To register a trade mark, the process is as fol - lows: • complete the relevant forms with the neces - sary supporting documents; • file the completed forms at the Intellectual Property Office; and • pay the applicable fees. The entire application process – inclusive of the publishing of the mark in the official gazette, and the final approval and registration of the mark – can take up to 18 months. A person who has filed an application for pro - tection of a trade mark in a Convention country (any country that is a member of the World Trade Organization; the Convention of the Union of Paris; or any other treaty the Minister responsi - ble for trade marks may by Order designate) has a right to priority, for the purposes of registering the same trade mark under the Trade Marks Act, for a period of six months from the date of filing of the first such application. The registration of a trade mark is for ten years but may be renewed from time to time in accord - ance with the provisions of the Trade Marks Act.
A patent is granted by the Bahamian govern - ment through the Intellectual Property Office through the following process: • complete the relevant forms with the neces - sary 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 annual maintenance fee, in an amount as pre - scribed by the Intellectual Property Office, must be paid before the expiration of the first year from the date of filing the application and there - after before the expiration of each successive year during the term of the patent. 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 patentee; ie, a person entered on the regis - ter of patents) has a right to take proceedings in respect of any infringement 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 licen - see as such.
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