ANGUILLA
The Trademarks Act 2002 provides for local trademark applications with registration dating from receipt of application. The Registration of UK Trade Marks Act provides for applications to extend rights under a UK registration to Anguilla with effect from the date of registration in UK, but an action in Anguilla for infringement of a UK-based registration can only complain of infringement occurring after the date of registration in Anguilla.
Trade and service marks can be registered in Anguilla under the Nice Classification system. No prior use is necessary but non-use for five years following registration will subject the mark to an action for cancellation. International priority is available. The registration term on local registrations is 10 years and renewable for like periods; the term of trademarks registered as UK extensions is coterminous with the underlying UK registration.
Further information is available in an article published by this firm in the December 1, 2002 issue of the INTA Bulletin.
HISTORY
Located in the West Indies in the Caribbean, Anguilla, a British overseas territory, was first discovered over four thousand years ago by indigenous peoples from the mainland of South America. The Amerindian people named the newly discovered island Malliouhana, meaning an arrow-shaped sea serpent. In 1493, however, Europeans changed the island’s name to Anguilla for its long eel shape. It was first settled by the English in 1650. By 1882 Anguilla was united with St. Kitts and Nevis to establish the British colony of Saint Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla. Anguilla remained united with the countries until 1967 when it separated from the union and in 1980 formally disassociated from St. Kitts and Nevis to become a separate British dependency and was placed under direct British rule. Anguilla’s official language is English, and its capital is The Valley.
Anguilla’s economic status was originally centered around plantations and farming, but today its main economic source is tourism followed by financial services and foreign investment. Anguilla’s Financial Services Commission, the licensing and regulatory body for Anguilla’s financial services industry, adds to the system of full-bodied laws and policies that protect finances and trademarks on the island. Known for its immaculate beaches, Anguilla draws in tens of thousands of visitors each year for its locations such as Dog Island, a small island known for its endangered fauna and flora, including over 200,000 species of nesting birds.
