Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office

The Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO) is a Barbadian governmental agency in charge of various aspects of industrial property right affairs including: patents, trademarks, and industrial designs. It is a division of the Ministry of Industry & International Business. The CAIPO office is located on Belmont Road, Saint Michael, Barbados. The country ranks as one of the top countries where the greatest number of foreign patents are legally based.[1]

National legislation

Corporate affairs in Barbados are covered by the following Acts:[2]

  • Companies Act
  • Registration of Business Names Act
  • Bills of Sale Act
  • Small Business Development Act
  • Notarial acts
  • Public Documents Act
  • Pharmacy Act
  • Limited Partnerships Act
  • Registration of Newspapers Act
  • Trade Unions Act

Intellectual property in Barbados are covered by the following Acts:

  • Trademarks Act
  • Patents Act[3]
  • Industrial Designs Act

At the international level, the department works very closely with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and its subregional unit known as the Cooperation for Development Bureau for Latin American and Caribbean.

Treaties and conventions

Barbados is a signatory to the following copyright and intellectual property treaties and conventions influencing local laws:

Treaty or Convention Year it was established Locally ratified into law
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886 ratified: 30 July 1983[4]
Geneva Convention for the Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication 1971 ratified: July 29, 1983[5]
Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents - (the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents) 1961 Succession for Barbados 30 November 1966. Barbados maintains that since the United Kingdom entered into the agreement on 24 February 1965 that it is compulsory for Barbados which didn't become independent until 1966.[6]
Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of Registration of Marks 1967 ratified: 12 March 1985[7]
Nairobi Treaty (Olympic Symbol) ratified: 28 February 1986[8]
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property 1883 (as revised in 1967) ratified: 12 March 1985[9]
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) 1970 ratified: 12 March 1985[10]
Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations 1961 ratified: 18 September 1983[11]
Universal Copyright Convention (UCC-Geneva) 1952 ascension: 3 March 1983[12]
Universal Copyright Convention (UCC-Paris) (as revised in 1971) ascension: 3 March 1983[13]
Membership to the WIPO[14]
WTO-TRIPS Agreement on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 1994 ratified: 1 January 1995

Currently Barbados has yet to finalise or is absent from:

Treaty or Convention Year it was established Note
Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme–Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite 1974 Some provisions within the United States–Caribbean Basin Initiative already have recourse for United States-based satellite providers to be compensated through other means within that act.
Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure (Budapest) 1977
Patent Law Treaty (PLT) 2000
WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) 1996
WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) 1996

Domain names and trademarks

Additionally, CAIPO is entrusted with the handling of legal issues pertaining to Barbados' .bb ccTLD and second-level domains including: .co.bb, .com.bb, .net.bb, .org.bb, .info.bb, .store.bb, .tv.bb, .biz.bb .

See also

References
  1. Staff writer (30 September 2010). "Innovation in Asia: Trading places - China is about to overtake Japan in patent applications". The Economist. Retrieved 11 January 2011. The countries where the greatest number of foreign patents are legally based are Barbados, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Ireland, notes the OECD.
  2. "IP National Intellectual Property legislation in Barbados" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  3. "Patent Act" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  4. Berne Convention
  5. "Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms". Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  6. Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents: Signed 24 February 1965 by the United Kingdom
  7. "Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of Registration of Marks, 1967". Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  8. "Nairobi Treaty". Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  9. "Paris Treaty". Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  10. PCT Treaty
  11. "Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations". Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  12. Universal Copyright Convention, with Appendix Declaration relating to Article XVII and Resolution concerning Article XI. Geneva, 6 September 1952
  13. Universal Copyright Convention, as revised on 24 July 1971
  14. "WIPO membership - Barbados: October, 1979" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
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