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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES

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Opposition Term

03 Months

Registration Term

10 Years

First Renewal Term

10 Years

Subsequent Renewal Term

10 Years

  • The Trade Marks Act No. 46 of 2003, as amended by Act No. 50 of 2004, and the Trade Marks Regulations, 2004 – are the primary laws governing trademark registration and protection in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

  • It takes approximately twelve (12) to eighteen (18) months to complete the trademark registration proceedings in a straight forward case.

  • International priority can be claimed.

  • In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, registration of a trademark is necessary to obtain rights over it and take action against infringement.

  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines follows the 10th edition of Nice Classification. Multi-class trademark applications are acceptable. 

  • All the trademark applications need to be field with the Commerce and Intellectual Property Office (CIPO).

  • Third party opposition actions can be filed against a trademark application within a timeframe of three (03) months after it gets published.

  • In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, registered trademarks are protected for a period of ten (10) years from the application date, which can be further renewed indefinitely for successive periods of ten (10) years each. The trademark renewal can be requested within one (01) year before the expiration date.

  • The grace period to renew a trademark after the date of expiry is twelve (12) months with penalty.

  • Once a trademark gets registered and if it is not used within a period of five (05) years, it may become vulnerable to cancellation actions for the lack of use.

  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a member of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

  • A patent can be registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines pursuant to the Patents Act (Act No. 39 of 2004), which provides for the registration of the local patent applications.

  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a signatory to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and accordingly, national phase filing of a PCT patent is possible.

  • It usually takes six (06) months or less for the Saint Vincent Commerce and Intellectual Property Office to process an application for registration. Once the registration is complete, the Office will issue a certificate of registration.

  • In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, an invention that satisfies the conditions of originality, novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability, subjects to patentability. Process patent and product patent are the two types of patents that can be protected.

  • The types of patent applications that can be filed include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application.

  • The period for filing a notice of opposition is three (03) months from the day on which the acceptance of the application is advertised.

  • A patent registration is valid for twenty (20) years. Once the registration term gets expired, it cannot be further renewed.

  • Once a patent has been registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, there is an annuity payable to the Government every year. The fee is due on the anniversary of the filing date. Annuities for a PCT issued patent are due on the same date. When the annuity has been paid, the Office will issue an official receipt. Failure to pay an annual fee will result in the rights protected by the registration being placed in abeyance. The same will effectively prevent any enforcement action from being taken.

  • The Industrial Designs Act, No. 20 of 2005 - governs and deals with the mechanism of registration of industrial designs in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

  • An application for the registration of an industrial design needs to be filed with the Registrar and should contain a request, drawings, photographs or other adequate graphic representations of the article embodying the industrial design, and an indication of the kind of product for which the industrial design is to be used.

  • The types of industrial design applications that can be filed include Non-Convention Application and Convention Application. 

  • Utility model protection isn't provided under industrial design protection in the nation.

  • Two or more industrial designs may be the subject of the same application if they relate to the same class of the International Classification or to the same set or composition of articles.

  • Opposition against an industrial design application can't be raised in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

  • The registration of an industrial design lasts for a period of five (05) years from the filing date of the application for registration.

  • The registration may be renewed for one (01) further consecutive period of five (05) years upon the payment of the prescribed fee.

  • A grace period of six (06) months is allowed for the late payment of the renewal fee upon payment of the prescribed surcharge.

  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a signatory to the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

  • The Copyright Act, No. 21 of 2003 Chapter 311 is the basic legislation governing copyright protection in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

  • In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, copyright comes into existence as soon as the work is created. No formality is required to be done for obtaining copyright protection. Therefore, copyright registration is not required and there is no system of voluntary registration.

  • Copyright in any literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work expires at the end of the period of seventy-five (75) years from the end of the calendar year in which the author dies

  • Copyright in a computer-generated work expires at the end of the period of fifty (50) years from the end of the calendar year in which the work is made.

  • Copyright in a sound recording or film expires at the end of the period of fifty (50) years from the end of the calendar year in which it was made, or where it is made available to the public before the end of that period, the term expires seventy-five (75) years from the end of the calendar year in which it is so made available.

  • Copyright in a broadcast or cable programme expires at the end of the period of fifty (50) years from the end of the calendar year in which the broadcast was made or the programme was included in a cable programme service.