Legal professionals in the IP field including copyright lawyers, patent attorneys and trademark attorneys work to protect clients’ intellectual property assets and to prevent them from infringing on IP assets of others.
The Caribbean region is quickly getting on board with the digital revolution which is one that is full of opportunities, but also carries a wide variety of risks.
Understanding the rights that go along with IP and setting up the necessary protections are critical to business success. Equally as important is understanding how to respect the rights of others as this goes towards to ensuring that a business/ brand is on a solid footing and is minimising or neutralising risks to its success.
“In a crowded marketplace, even a virtual one, consumer recognition and goodwill go a long way”.
— Saelese Haynes, Attorney-at-Law
Copyright
This is a property right that subsists in literary, artistic, musical, dramatic and other creative works that are original creations of the mind.
In Trinidad and Tobago, copyrights are not required to be registered. Copyright protection is automatic from fixation of the work. Copyright and moral rights of a creator of a protected work is protected during the life of the creator and for fifty (50) years after his/ her death.
Trinidad and Tobago is also unique in that it specifically provides for a sub-category of copyright in ‘works of mas’ described by our Intellectual Property Office (IPO) as “a combination of tangible manifestation, such as a physical costume and intangible manifestation such as a style of dance, a style of oratory, etc.“.
Trademarks
Under the Trade Marks Act of Trinidad and Tobago, 2015, a ‘trade mark’ is “any sign capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing goods or services dealt
with or provided in the course of trade by a person, from goods or services so dealt with or provided by any other person” (our emphasis). Trade marks are ordinarily valid for a period of ten (10) years in Trinidad and Tobago and may be renewed for further periods.
A trade mark may consist of words (including personal names), designs, letters, numerals or the shape of goods or their packaging. Any of the following can be used trade marks as long as they can suitably be reduced to or reproduced sufficiently in a two dimensional form:
- Words
- Colours
- Sounds and Smells
- Slogans
- Logos / Designs
- Shape of goods and their packaging
- Domain names
Marks can be either registered or unregistered. However, registered marks have greater protection in law as compared with unregistered marks.
As stated above, to be considered a trade mark, an element would need to fulfill 3 basic requirements, those being:
The definition contains three elements:
- A ‘sign’;
- that is ‘capable of being represented graphically’; and
- is ‘capable of distinguishing the goods or services’ of one undertaking (business) from that of another.
Local (Trinidad and Tobago) application fee(s) are determined by the number of class(es) in which the application is being filed or registered. The application fee for the first class is TT $1,400.00 with an additional fee of TT $150.00 for each additional class.
Patents
Patents are exclusive proprietary rights granted for a novel (new) invention that provides protection for the invention, preventing other persons from commercial usage thereof. The invention can be a new or useful art, process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter or an improvement on contemporary technology. In Trinidad and Tobago, the term of protection for a patent is generally twenty (20) years, and is subject to the payment of maintenance fees.
As part of a patent application, the applicant is required to disclose technical information on the technology.
Patents must:
- be new (“novel”, “unanticipated”);
- be non-obvious (“inventive”); and
- have utility.
Industrial Designs
Unlike patents that protect the functional aspect of a creation of the mind, industrial designs protect the ornamental aspects. In Trinidad and Tobago, industrial designs must be novel (original) and registered to be eligible for protection. Protection of an industrial design is granted for a period of fifteen (15) years.