Trademark registration after 10-10-10

July 27, 2010 8:56 AM

After 10-10-10, the Netherlands Antilles trademark registrations also must change. It still has not been established what these changes will be. Laura Fresco, attorney and trademark representative at VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne, is examining the problem.

The current sources of trademark law for the Netherlands Antilles at a national level are the 1995 Trademark Ordinance, the 1995 Trademark Decree, and the 2000 Bureau for Intellectual Property Regulation. Internationally, the islands have signed the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, as well as the Madrid Protocol concerning the International Registration of Marks. The Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks and TRIPS also apply.

Conventions currently applying in the Netherlands Antilles at an international level continue to apply in the BES islands. Some other conventions, the application of which will be extended to the BES islands by means of an act sanctioning conventions, will be implemented as a supplement.

The islands will not have any European trademark legislation. It still is not known how existing N.A. registrations will be maintained. The implementation and costs involved for trademark owners also are not clear yet.

Both as regards the Curaçao Trademark Ordinance, the Curaçao Trademark Decree, and implementing regulations, no proposals are known yet. It is clear, however, that Curaçao and Sint Maarten will become a party to all conventions in which the Netherlands Antilles now participate in.

According to Fresco, the most logical scenario would be minimum adjustments for the BES islands. The Bureau for Intellectual Property can become a Curaçao trademark agency. A new trademark registration may also be created for Curaçao alone, and the system of trademark representatives can continue to apply. As regards Sint Maarten, the future sources of trademark laws are less clear. In all likelihood, it can be compared to Curaçao. The ultimate scenario depicted by Fresco is one in which Curaçao, Sint Maarten, the BES islands, the Netherlands, and Aruba fall under separate regimes.

(Source: National newspaper Antilliaans Dagblad)

24 June 2010