Bahamas IP: Trademarks, Patents, Industrial Designs, Copyright and Domain Names

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an independent, English-speaking country consisting of 2,387 rocks, 661 cays and 29 islands. It is located in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of the United States; northeast to east of Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic & Haiti) and north to east of the Caribbean Sea; and west to northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The closest island to the United States is Bimini, which is also known as the gateway to the Bahamas.

The climate of the Bahamas is subtropical to tropical, and is moderated significantly by the waters of the Gulf Stream, particularly in winter. The Bahamas is classified as an upper middle-income developing country and has the third highest per capita income in the western hemisphere (after the United States and Canada).

Tourism is the primary economic activity, accounting for about two thirds of the gross domestic product (GDP). Offshore finance is the second largest industry, accounting for about 15 per cent of GDP. The government continues to promote tourism and financial services while aiming for greater diversification through agriculture, fishing, manufacturing and e-commerce. There are no income, corporate or capital gains taxes. Government revenues are derived from import tariffs, excise taxes, property taxes, stamp taxes, business licenses and fees.

General Information

Capital:

Nassau

Population:

330.5 thousand

Languages:

English

Government Type:

Parliamentary Democracy and constitutional Monarchy

Dialing Code:

Timezone:

GMT -5

Monetary Unit:

Dollar (BSD)

More information:

Bahamas

International Arrangements

Membership international conventions:

-Membership of WIPO treaties:
• WIPO Convention, since January 1977.
• Paris Convention (Industrial Property), since July 1973.
• Berne Convention (Literary and Artistic Works), since July 1973.

-WTO: Observer.

-Membership of other bodies/treaties: UCC.
• Member of UCC since September 1976.

Patents

- The Applicant can be the inventor, his assignee or the personal representative of any deceased person who, immediately before his death was entitled to make such an application.
Filing requirements:
Form:
- The patent application must be signed by the applicant
- Specification in duplicate
- Drawings, in duplicate
- Priority documents (within 3 months)

Examination procedure:
- Amendment is possible, but after acceptance of the specification, no amendment can be made except by way of disclaimer, correction or explanation of an obvious mistake.

Registration:
- The Registrar General notifies the applicant that the specification is accepted and the Department advertises the acceptance in the Journal. The applicant must then, within a period of four months, request the grant of the patent. This period may be extended for a further 3 months by request.

Publication:
- Advertisement in The Journal of the acceptance which states that the specification is open for inspection on a date not later than a month, after the letter of acceptance is sent to the applicant.

Delivery of documents:
- From six months to one year after filing

Granting and protection:
- The protections begin from the date of convention application or date of the filing of the application in The Bahamas.

Duration:
- 16 years, extension not possible

Annuities:
- At the expiration of the 4th year the patent must be renewable annually in order to be kept in force.

Assignment: application must be accompanied by an official or certified copy of the assignment and if the Registrar General so directs, the original of the document should also be produced for examination, but not for retention.

Novelty:
- The invention must not have been made available to the public in The Bahamas or elsewhere.

Territory covered:
- The Commonwealth of The Bahamas

Trademarks

- The applicant is anyone claiming to be the proprietor of the trademark
- Filing requirements:

Form:
Marks in a foreigner language must have an endorsement on the application and on each representation of the mark of a sufficient translation of each word to the satisfaction of the Registrar General. Every such endorsement must be signed by the applicant or his agent.
- Authorization of agent, unlegalized
- Certified copy of basic application, if priority is claimed

Examination:
- Amendment of application is possible before the mark is registered.

Publication:
- The Journal is published at least once per month and each application appears once.

Granting and protection:
- The protection begins from the priority date in the case of convention application or from the date of the filing.

Duration:
- 14 years, and can be renewed indefinitely for further periods of 14 years.

Last term for renewal:
- Not less than 2 months and not more than 3 months before the expiration of the last registration. If the applicant does not apply for renewal before the expiration, The Registrar General must advertise the fact in The Journal and after one month he may remove the mark from the register.

User rights:
- Trademarks may be assigned to users

Kinds of protection:
- Non-conventions and convention applications to register any device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, letter, numeral or combination thereof.

Priorities:
- Convention priority if the application is made within six months of the basic application.

Territory covered:
- The Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

Designs and Models

- The applicant is anyone claiming to be the proprietor
- Filing requirements:

Form:
- Application, on prescribed form, signed by the proprietor
- 3 identical representation or specimens of the design, on paper of approx. 13 x 8 inches
In convention cases:
- Number, date and country of the basic foreign application
- A certified copy of the basic application; may be filed within 3 months; if not in English must be accompanied by a certified translation.

Kinds of designs:
- Features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applicable to articles, which appeal to and are judged solely by the eye.

Priority:
- To gain convention priority, the deposit must be made within six months from the date of deposit for protection in the convention country.

Territory covered:
- The Commonwealth of The Bahamas

Registration:
- A Deposit List for designs is maintained rather than a register. After examination and publication by the Registrar General, a certificate of deposit is granted to the proprietor

Publication:
- A representation of the design must be made available for public inspection at the Industrial Property Section of the Department on and after the 28th day after the date of the deposit of the claim to the design. A notice to this effect is published in The Journal.

Granting:
- From the date of the application (deposit) in The Bahamas or date of earlier convention application.

Duration:
5, 10, or 15 years

Annuities:
- Design copyright remains in force for 5 years from the date of deposit and is extensible for two further periods of 5 years. Six months grace is allowed for payment of extension fee.

Assignments:
- Application and proof of title to the Registrar General. An official or certified copy of the documents must be produced.

Copyrights

Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works

As a member of the Berne Convention, it is possible to copyright protect creative works in this country as well as all the other member nations automatically (more than 160 countries), with one single application.

For more information and to submit us your works for worldwide copyright protection, click here.

Domain Names

Domain extension:

.bs

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Bahamas IP: Trademarks, Patents, Industrial Designs, Copyright and Domain Names