Trademark law
The Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) implements the BES Trademarks Act on behalf of and on the instructions of the Ministry of EZK. Read more on the website about the application of trademark law in the Caribbean Netherlands.
The BES Trademarks Act (WMB) is applicable in the Caribbean Netherlands. This law came into effect on October 10, 2010. All authorised representatives in the Kingdom of the Netherlands can act as authorised representatives under the WMB.
The BES Trademarks Act is largely identical to the 1995 Trademarks Ordinance applicable to the Netherlands Antilles in the past, and therefore also to the legislation of the other countries of the former Antilles. A significant difference is that there is no provision for assessing trademark applications on absolute grounds. Another difference is that representation by an authorised representative is no longer mandatory.
The Madrid Protocol also applies to the Caribbean Netherlands.
Caribie.nl
Caribie.nl stands for the Caribbean Netherlands Intellectual Property Office. The website www.caribie.nl is the central communication means of the BOIP for registering and publishing trademarks in the Caribbean Netherlands.
BOIP endeavours to have communication take place electronically as much as possible. In order to facilitate communication over considerable distances and with a time difference, ‘TM Talk’ provides a possibility to submit electronic filings. The website for the trademarks in the Caribbean Netherlands (www.caribie.nl) also offers an online register for looking up trademarks that are valid in the Caribbean Netherlands.
BOIP can be reached by e-mail for the application of the WMB at trademarks@caribie.nl.