Patent and Trade Mark Annual Fee Update

The General Registry of the Cayman Islands has issued Practice Note No. 01/2016, which states that starting August 1, 2016, patent and trademark annual fee payments will no longer be accepted in advance of January 1 in the year in which they fall due.

It is therefore no longer possible to pay annual fees in the 12 months preceding the expiry date for renewal of a trademark, or the year of expiry of a patent, in advance. Instead, annual fees due in 2017 must be paid on or after January 1, 2017. Annual fees due in 2018 must be paid on or after January 1, 2018, etc.

Where annual fees remain unpaid on March 31 of each year, a penalty fee will accrue. The Registry will not accept payment of the outstanding annual fee unless the applicable penalty is paid simultaneously, along with any outstanding fees (including outstanding penalty fees) due with respect to prior years.

Trademark and patent owners should review their Cayman Islands portfolios to check whether annual fee payments are paid up to date, and if not, ensure that any outstanding years are paid along with the next annual fee payment due on January 1, 2017.

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Questions or comments? Contact Sophie Peat, Attorney at speat@hsmoffice.com