Should You Trademark or Copyright a Logo in the Bahamas?

The Bahamas is one of the finest places for business entities to protect their intellectual property, considering that there is a strong legal system to safeguard branding. Offshore Company Corp provides expert guidance on these steps to maintain compliance and safeguard business properties to the best standard.

Its Bahamas brand logo needs to be trademarked primarily to protect its use as a brand mark. The Trade Marks Act, 2024, under the Bahamas Intellectual Property Office (BIPO), governs the registration of trademarks with exclusive use rights of the logo for specific goods or services and preventing consumer confusion. Trademarks, including word marks and figurative marks, are first-to-use registered and renewable for 10 years indefinitely. Copyright protection, under the Copyright Act, is extended automatically to original works of art, i.e., logos, for the lifetime of the creator plus 70 years. Yet, copyright only protects the creative expression of the logo, not its commercial application, restricting its use for branding. For full protection, companies can trademark a logo for brand recognition and copyright it if it amounts to an original artistic work. The Nice Classification system currently accommodates service marks, widening the choice for service-oriented firms. Registration entails filing applications to BIPO, costing USD 200-400, and taking 6-12 months. Unregistered logos have recourse to common law passing off, which provides weaker protection.

Offshore Company Corp provides customized solutions to obtain trademark and copyright protection for logos in the Bahamas, in compliance with local law. Call their team to protect your brand and maximize your intellectual property strategy.