EU and Trinidad and Tobago forge a new IP cooperation agreement
In October 2023, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and Trinidad and Tobago have signed an agreement on the maintenance of tools, applications and practices, in which the Intellectual Property Office of Trinidad and Tobago (TTIPO) participates. The agreement confirms their intention to integrate European Union Intellectual Property Network (EUIPN) tools, such as TMview and DesignView. It strengthens cooperation and bolsters institutional capacity to benefit businesses and users of the intellectual property (IP) system in the EU and Trinidad and Tobago.
The EUIPO and TTIPO collaborate under the CARIFORUM Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation project (CarIPI). This is the first regional project supporting the innovation and IP rights component of the CARIFORUM-EU economic partnership agreement (EPA). To integrate CARIFORUM into the world economy and stimulate innovation and competitiveness in the private sector, CarIPI was designed to upgrade and harmonise systems for IP creation, administration and protection. This is in line with EPA provisions and contributes to regional IP rights integration. The project started on 01 November 2019 and will run until 30 April 2024.
On 12 October 2020, the government of Trinidad and Tobago formally acceded to the Madrid Protocol. International IP treaties are instrumental in facilitating protection across multiple jurisdictions. With its straightforward designation process, foreign companies and trade mark owners can seek IP protection through the Madrid System when selling their products and services in Trinidad and Tobago. The country’s accession spotlights the Madrid System as a key component in protecting marks globally, offering a convenient cost-effective solution for brand owners in the Caribbean and worldwide.
What is the agreement about?
The agreement establishes the terms and conditions for maintaining the EUIPN’s tools and applications, such as TMview and DesignView, aiming to support users of the IP system worldwide.
Once launched, the EUIPO will be responsible for centrally hosting and maintaining such tools and IT solutions.
TMview is a free online tool, available 24/7 and updated daily, receiving over 1.2 million searches monthly. It contains trade mark applications and registered marks from all EU national IP offices, the EUIPO and various international partner offices based outside the EU.
Businesses and practitioners can consult a trade mark’s details in TMview, such as the country, goods or services, type and registration date.
DesignView is a free online tool, also available 24/7, which allows internet users to search the designs of all participating offices. It is a multilingual easy-to-use tool, which gives access to design applications and registrations that participating offices provide through a single unique platform. Each office is responsible for updating the content it submits.