The Trade Marks Bill (2014) needs more consultation, and especially input from the business sector.
This was the recommendation of PNM Senator Faris Al-Rawi during debate of the bill in the Senate yesterday.
During his contribution, Al-Rawi, who said the bill had been around for “quite a while” on the Order Paper, urged his colleagues to note the business community’s approach.
“I am concerned that some of the wider consultation issues should be canvassed and I am concerned that in relation to the well-known (trade) marks in particular that we are conscious of the business community’s approach to this particular opening of the door in relation to well-known marks.
“Well-known marks... are [not] new to us. It is the manner in which we anchor it now in the bill that is going to be novel. The bill proposes that we can take active, conscious knowledge and have registration of well-known marks without there being actual trade in T&T and that is a very important step,” Al-Rawi added.
Al-Rawi said the bill was an important piece of legislation which “bites” into every aspect of life in T&T.
Among the avenues needing to be explored, Al-Rawi said, were the assignment of property rights which were being created, the regulations which governed the bill, the issue of cost and that of customs.
Independent Senator Anthony Vieira described the bill as an “important and necessary” legislation for all who had commercial interests in this country.
Trademarks were one of the key elements for business success, Vieira said, since they guaranteed the source and quality of goods and services, allowed companies to distinguish their goods and services from those of their competitors and cemented customer loyalty.
“Whether we like it or not we live in a materialistic age and our economies are fuelled by consumerism and a trademark is fundamental to branding. When we register our trademarks abroad we identify goods and services coming proudly from our country. They serve as an indicator of quality and they can create an image for T&T,” Vieira added.