Table of Contents
Patents of Invention
Legal Basis
– Patents Act, 2024, in force since February 1, 2025.
– Patent Regulations, 2025, in force since May 21, 2025.
Membership in International Conventions
– Paris Convention.
– Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure, as of September 3, 2025.
Filing Requirements
– The specification in duplicate;
– Drawings, in duplicate, 13 x 8 to 8 1/4 or 16 to 16 1/2 inches;
– Priority document (within three months);
– Declaration signed by inventor(s) before a Notary Public, stating that he/she/they consent to filing of the application (within three months);
– Form 1 (“Application for a Patent”), preferably printed double-sided on legal paper and signed on behalf of the applicant.
Remarks
Duration – extension: for patent applications filed on or after February 1, 2025, the duration is twenty years, extension not possible. Note: under the previous Patents Act patents were granted for sixteen years.
Annuities: are payable on the first and each subsequent anniversary of the filing date.
Opposition: there is no provision for opposition to the grant of a patent. Any person may apply to the court for revocation of a patent.
Trade and Service Marks
Legal Basis
– Trade Marks Act, 2024, in force since February 1, 2025.
– Trade Marks Regulations, 2025, in force since May 21, 2025.
Membership in International Conventions
– Paris Convention.
– Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, as of September 3, 2025.
– Trademark Law Treaty, as of September 3, 2025.
– Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks, as of September 3, 2025.
– Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, Geneva Act, as of September 3, 2025.
Filing Requirements
– Name and address of the applicant;
– Authorization of agent, unlegalized;
– A representation of the trademark;
– An indication of the goods or services;
– Certified copy of basic application, if priority is claimed, with verified English translation (if applicable).
Note: the application shall state that the trademark is being used by the applicant or with their consent, or that they have a bona fide intention to use.
Remarks
Duration – renewals: for trademark applications filed on or after February 1, 2025, the duration is ten years from the date of registration; can be renewed indefinitely for further periods of ten years. Note: for marks filed or registered before February 1, 2025, the duration is fourteen years from the filing date.
Obligation to use the registered mark: any aggrieved person may apply to the Registrar for the removal of the mark from the Register in the case of non-use for a period of five years or more.
Opposition: any person may file a written statement of opposition with the Registrar within two months from the date of publication of the application in the Official Gazette.
Industrial Designs
Legal Basis
– Industrial Property Act, 1965, as amended.
– Industrial Property Rules, 1967, as amended.
Membership in International Conventions
– Paris Convention.
Filing Requirements
– 3 identical representations or specimens of the design, on paper of approx. 13 x 8 inches;
– In Convention cases: (a) number, date and country of the basic foreign application; (b) a certified copy of the basic application; may be filed within three months; if not in English, it must be accompanied by a certified translation.
Remarks
Duration: after formal examination: 5 years from the filing date, renewable for two further terms of five years each.
Opposition: possible, to the Registrar on advertisement of a request for correction of a clerical error in claim for design or in the representation of the design; by application for cancellation to The Supreme Court.
Domain Names
Filing
ccTLD: .bs
Applicant: individuals and legal entities.
Local presence: not required.
Remarks
Duration – renewals: one to two years, renewable.
Uniform dispute resolution procedure: available (ICANN UDRP model) before WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.