NEWS

UPDATE: TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
A new Trade Marks Law is hoped to come into effect in Trinidad & Tobago by the end of 2015. Trinidad’s current trade marks law is already well developed, but the new law makes further welcomed modernisations.

UPDATE: ST. MAARTEN
On 1 October 2015, the Bureau of Intellectual Property (BIP) Curaçao ceased handling trade mark matters relating to the country of St. Maarten. On 5 October 2015, the newly formed BIP of St Maarten (BIP SMX) became the competent authority for such work, working in conjunction with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP). An online trade mark registration route is now available (BOIP is a paperless office).

UPDATE: CUBA
President Obama’s December 2014 announcement that diplomatic relations between the USA Cuba will be restored after more than 50 years of isolation and enmity reignited the interest of many US brand owners in the Cuban market.

UPDATE: CAYMAN ISLANDS
The Cayman Islands government has committed to the modernization of the islands’ outdated copyright law. The first step of the modernization process was completed in March 2015, when the Copyright (Cayman Islands) Order 2015 was passed.

UPDATE: CAYMAN ISLANDS
A new Trade Marks Act is in the process of being finalized in the Cayman Islands. It is anticipated that the new law will be passed by the end of 2015 and implemented in the first quarter of 2016.

UPDATE: BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
A new Trade Marks Act came into effect in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) on 1 September 2015, ending the current dual filing system currently in place for trade marks. It is no longer possible to register marks in the BVI on the basis of an existing UK registration.