– Patents and Designs Act 1930.
– Patent and Designs Rules 1903.

– The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille) – in effect by extension from the U.K.

Applicant: the inventor or joint inventors. 

Patentability: the invention must be new, involve an inventive step and be capable of industrial application.

Re-registration of U.K. or European patents: possible.

Priority: no provision.

Filing requirements for an application (to be sent to resident registered agent):
1. Authorization of agent;
2. An application for the grant of a patent signed by the owner or the owner’s agent;
3. A specification containing a description of the invention, a claim or claims and any drawing referred to in the description or any claim;
4. An abstract.

Electronic filing: not available. 

Electronic signatures: are not accepted.

Notes: as of July 2014, the IP Office requires a certified copy of the specification and drawings (if any), from the U.K. Patent Office, as support for any national patent application. The IP Office, however, has no power to require the applicant to obtain these documents. The applicant therefore must either (a) pay the unofficial Bermuda deposit fees for the UKIPO search and examination; or (b) submit the application directly to the UKIPO for search and examination. The application can then be submitted to the Bermuda IP Office for normal processing. (For successful applications, the UKIPO should certify the documents for use in Bermuda.) The IP Office is also treating a certified copy of a granted U.K. patent (and by extension an EU patent) as sufficient for search and examination purposes in Bermuda for filing a national application. This may mean a de facto end to confirmatory patents as filing a national patent will be quicker and have a validity of sixteen years, whereas a confirmatory patent is restricted to the unexpired period of the patent upon which it is based. Remark on IP implications of the U.K.’s referendum vote of June 23, 2016 to leave the European Union: the U.K.’s position as a contracting State of the EPO is not affected by the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU, and European (U.K.) patents will continue to be obtainable through the EPO route.

PCT applications: no provision.

For a change of name:
1. Change of name certificate from the Regulator or extract from the Commercial Register showing recordal of name change, translated into English, notarized.

For a change of address:
1. Letter from owner on corporate letterhead or extract from the Commercial Register (notarized) showing recordal of address change, translated into English.

Examination: formal examination to determine whether the application complies with the requirements of the Patent Act. Currently, Bermuda patent applications (in distinction to re-registration of patent applications) have been suspended because of examination issues.

Publication: before the grant of a patent, the Registrar publishes a notice in the Official Gazette that the patent application has been filed; the certificate is then issued to the proprietor in paper format. 

Beginning of protection: a patent registration takes effect from the date on which notice of its grant is published in the Gazette. 

Duration: sixteen years from the filing date of the application for Bermuda patents and the unexpired portion of the U.K. or EU patent period.

Annuities: there are no prescribed renewal fees. U.K. or EU patents will cease to have effect if the U.K. or EU annuities are not paid. Grace period: n.a.

Cancellation: possible through an application by the proprietor of the patent to the Registrar.

Opposition: the proprietor of a patent or any other person wishing to oppose may give notice of opposition to the Registrar.

Revocation of a granted patent: may be obtained on application by any interested person.

Licenses: at anytime after the grant of a patent.

Infringement: civil proceedings may be brought to the court by the proprietor of a patent.

Remedies: (1) an injunction restraining the defendant from any apprehended act of infringement; (2) an order for the defendant to deliver up or destroy any patented product in relation to which the patent is infringed or any article in which the product is inextricably comprised; (3) damages; (4) an account of profits; (5) a declaration that the patent is valid and has been infringed.