JIPO doubles trademark fees

Marcella Scarlett, Business Reporter

The Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) will be doubling the fees to register trademarks, effective March 1.

The fees jump from J$8,320 to J$17,800 - a 114 per cent increase - but JIPO says the new fee structure remains competitive, relative to what other countries are charging.

The new fees are outlined in the Trade Marks (Amendment) Rules 2011.

"It is not as alarming as it looks as we haven't had an increase in 10 years, and even with the increase we are still among the lowest internationally," said JIPO Executive Director Carol Simpson.

Simpson said the applicant is not required to pay the entire fee upfront, a strategy employed to facilitate JIPO's small-business clients.

The current trademark fee is broken down into J$3,500 for the application, J$1,320 to advertise after the application is processed in four to five months, and J$3,500 for registration fees. The fees are payable at each stage of the process. It takes four to five months to complete the registration.

There is also an additional J$1,000 to register the trademark in each additional class. Currently there are 34 classes for goods and 11 classes for services.

"After these fees are paid, the mark is protected for 10 years and you will have the option of renewing the mark," Simpson said.

At renewal, the trademark owner is required to pay J$5,000 along with the additional J$1,000 for each additional class.

The current payment plan will remain under the new fee structure. The fees at March 1 will be J$7,800 at application, J$2,200 for advertisements, and an additional J$7,800 upon approval. The cost to register in each additional class climbs to J$2,200; and renewal of registration after the first decade will cost J$11,200.

Simpson said compared to other countries, the trademark fees in Jamaica are among the lowest, even with the increase.

She cited the United States where the registration charge is US$380 - the equivalent of about J$32,900, and each additional class costs US$380 to US$400; and the United Kingdom where registration costs US$400, or J$34,700, with each additional class billed at US$100.

"Even though we are trying to meet international standards, we are not going too high to price ourselves out of the market," said Simpson. "We are changing the price to satisfy our customers," she said.

Simpson said overseas businesses currently benefit more from the lower fees in Jamaica.

But she notes that under the Madrid Protocol, the international system for the registration of marks in multiple jurisdictions worldwide that regional countries are expected to sign on to by 2014, there will be a flat fee across signatory countries to register each mark.

The Madrid Agreement currently has 85 signatories.

For the financial year March 2011, JIPO earned revenues of approximately J$25 million. Over the past three years, the agency's revenues have averaged J$23 million.

Most of the income JIPO earns from registering trademarks is from the goods category, covering mainly food products, beverages, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

business@gleanerjm.com