Trademark registration in the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu. Although the Solomon Islands is one of the lesser developed nations, it has many great prospects for tourism and renewable energy development. A team of renewable energy developers working for the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and funded by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) has developed a scheme that allows local communities to access renewable energy, such as solar, water, and wind power, without the need to raise substantial sums of cash. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of trademark registration in the Solomon Islands.
Trademark in the Solomon Islands
Any marks can be registered as a trademark in the Solomon Islands if it is distinctive and is graphically representable signs, such as words, names, acronyms, letters, numbers, devices, colors, color combinations, the three-dimensional forms of a good or its packaging, and any combination of such signs.
Trademark registrable in this country are trademarks, certification trademarks, and collective trademarks.
Although there are no mentioned about service marks in Solomon Islands IP Law, it is registrable nonetheless in practice.
Necessary documents for trademark registration in the Solomon Islands
Necessary documents for trademark registration include:
- The application for trademark registration;
- Detailed information of the applicant (name, nationality, address, etc.);
- Detailed information of the representative or attorney (name, nationality, address, etc.);
- Classification of goods and/or services;
- Trademark sample;
- Priority documents (If any);
- The prescribed fee;
- Other necessary documents.
The procedure for trademark registration in the Solomon Islands
To obtain trademark registration in the Solomon Islands, the applicant must first have their trademark registered in the United Kingdom.
Specifically, the trademark application in this country must be based on a national UK registration certificate issued by the United Kingdom Comptroller-General.
The registered trademark will be extended to this country through Solomon Islands Registrar General’s Office.
Once the application is lodged, the Registrar is required to enter the particulars in the Trade Marks Register and issue the applicant with the registration certificate.
There is no requirement for publication or opposition procedure in this jurisdiction. Applications are to be registered as of right without publication or opposition.
The validity period of a trademark in Solomon Islands
Once registered, Solomon Islands’s trademark will have the same validity as the UK registered trademark on which they are based, in respect of the goods and services on which the trade is registered in this country.
Accordingly, the protection for the newly registered trademark in the Solomon Islands will begin from the date of the registration of the corresponding United Kingdom trademark.
Renewal and use requirement of a trademark
Prior use of the trademark in this country is not mandatory in order to extend a UK registration.
Furthermore, once registered, the trademark owner is not required to use the trademark in this jurisdiction to maintain its registration.
Once the UK trademark is renewed in the UK, the renewal must also be requested in the Solomon Islands.
You can see a list of Solomon Islands IP firms here.