– Trademark Act No. 10 of 2000, in force since July 28, 2000, as amended.

– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille), party since December 14, 1994.
– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, since April 9, 1995.
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since November 16, 1995.
– Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks, since October 27, 2005.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since February 21, 1996.

Application: it is no longer possible to re-register U.K. trademarks in Saint Kitts and Nevis since the enforcement of the Trademark Act 2000, dated July 18, 2000. 

Applicant: the first person to submit the required documents to file a trademark is entitled to registration. The applicant must be represented by an agent who must be an attorney-at-law and entitled to practice at the local bar. 

Registrable: trademarks may be registered in respect of goods, services or both goods and services. 

Not registrable: a trademark may not be registrable if it is (a) incapable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises; (b) contrary to public order or morality; (c) likely to mislead the public or trade circles, (d) identical to, or is an imitation of, or contains as an element, an armorial bearing, flag or other emblem, a name or abbreviation or initials of the name of or official sign or hallmark adopted by any state, intergovernmental organization or organization created by an international convention, unless authorized by the competent authority of that State or organization; (e) identical to, or confusingly similar to, or constitutes a translation of, a mark or trade name, which is well-known in Saint Christopher and Nevis for identical or similar goods or services of another enterprise, or if it is well-known and registered in Saint Christopher for goods or services which are not identical, or similar to those in respect of which registration is applied for, provided, in the latter case, that the use of the mark in relation to those goods or services would indicate a connection between those goods or services and the owner of the well-known mark; and the interests of the owner of the well-known mark are likely to be prejudiced by such use; or (f) identical to a mark belonging to a different owner and already on the Register, or with an earlier filing or priority date, in respect of the same goods or services or closely related goods or services, or if it so nearly resembles such a mark as to be likely to deceive or cause confusion.

Classification: Nice International Classification of Goods and Services. 

Multi-class applications: possible.

Priority: priority filings are acceptable.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident agent):
1. Formal Letter of Request that the mark be registered, requested from the local agent and addressed to the Registrar of Intellectual Property;
2. Certified authorization of agent form or power of attorney, which must state the name and address of the owner of the mark and agent; if the Notary’s certificate is in a foreign language, a signed and dated translation into English must accompany the form;
3. A Statement A form, which must include the name and address of the owner of the mark, classes and description of goods or services to be protected;
4. An original notarized Declaration, required for any new application, which must include the applicant’s name and address, be sworn on behalf of the entity save and except if applicant is an individual (address the validity of the content of the Statement A);
5. 10 representations of the mark (that can clearly identify it and show all its features), size 3 x 3 cm; not required for word marks;
6. Payment of the prescribed fees for the issuance of the Certificate of registration;
7. Certified priority document(s) (for priority filings).

For a change of name or address:
1. Declaration of change of name/change of address;
2. Certified copy of the change of name/change of address extract or an affidavit attesting to the change if the jurisdiction does not provide related extract;
3. Certified power of attorney.

Examination: each mark is examined to determine whether it conforms to the statutory requirements under the Act. 

Disclaimers: available.  

Letters of consent: are accepted, must be notarized.

Publication: advertised in the Official Gazette. 

Opposition: possible, by any third parties who wish to oppose the registration of the mark, within three months from the date of advertisement, under one or more of the aforementioned grounds listed for “not registrable” above, or that the mark does not comply with the true meaning of the word mark meaning “any visible sign capable of distinguishing goods (“trademark”) or services (“service mark”) of an enterprise”.

Delivery of document: the trademark certificate is issued in paper format only.

Duration: ten years from the filing date.

Renewal: for consecutive periods of ten years. From three months before the expiry of the ten-year period, the mark can be renewed upon written request of the registered owner and payment of the prescribed renewal fee. Requirements for renewal: original power of attorney, notarized. 

Late renewal: possible within three months after expiry, with fine.

Assignment: possible; may be with or without the goodwill of the business concerned. Recordal of assignment must be accompanied with a deed of assignment signed by both parties. An original power of attorney is required. An assignment or transmission may be partial (it may apply to only some of the goods or services or both of which registration is sought or the trademark is registered) but may not be partial in relation to the use of a trademark in a particular area.

Amendment of application/registration: modification after registration is possible, an amendment may be made after particulars of an application have been published, in relation to: (1) the representation of a trademark if the amendment does not substantially affect the identity of the trademark as at the time when the particulars were published; (2) correct a mistake of fact or an error in the classification of any goods or services specified in the application; (3) change the type of registration that is sought in the application; (4) any other particulars specified in the application, unless the amendment would have the effect of extending the rights that, apart from the amendment, the applicant would have under the registration if it were granted. 

Infringement and penalties: an action for infringement of a registered trademark may be brought to the court. The relief that a Magistrate Court may grant includes an injunction, damages, an account of profit or any other remedy provided for in the general law. The Comptroller of Customs may also seize goods infringing a registered trademark.