WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION  
ORGANISATION MONDIALE DU COMMERCE  
ORGANIZACIÓN MUNDIAL DEL COMERCIO  IP/N/1/VCT/D/1 
30 November 2009 
 (09-6020) 
Council for Trade-Related Aspects 
of Intellectual Property Rights Original:   English/ 
 anglais/  inglés 
 
  
MAIN DEDICATED INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS NOTIFIED UNDER 
ARTICLE 63.2 OF THE AGREEMENT 
 
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 
  
 The present document reproduces the text
1 of the Industrial Designs Act No. 20 of 2005, as 
notified by Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on 14 October 2009 under Article 63.2 of the 
Agreement (see document IP/N/1/VCT/1). 
 
Conseil des aspects des droits de propriété 
intellectuelle qui touchent au commerce  
 
 
PRINCIPALES LOIS ET RÉGLEMENTATIONS CONSACRÉES À LA 
PROPRIÉTÉ INTELLECTUELLE NOTIFIÉES AU TITRE 
DE L'ARTICLE 63:2 DE L'ACCORD 
 
SAINT-VINCENT-ET-LES GRENADINES 
  
 Le présent document contient le texte
1 de la Loi n° 20 de 2005 sur les dessins et modèles 
industriels, notifié par Saint-Vincent-et-les Grenad ines le 14 octobre 2009 au titre de l'article 63:2 de 
l'Accord (voir le document IP/N/1/VCT/1). 
 
Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad 
Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio  
 
 
PRINCIPALES LEYES Y REGLAMENTOS DEDICADOS A LA PROPIEDAD 
INTELECTUAL NOTIFICADOS EN VIRTUD DEL PÁRRAFO 2 
DEL ARTÍCULO 63 DEL ACUERDO 
 
SAN VICENTE Y LAS GRANADINAS 
 
 
 En el presente documento se reproduce el texto1 de la Ley Nº 20 de Dibujos y Modelos 
Industriales de 2005, notificado por San Vicente y la s Granadinas el 14 de octubre de 2009 en virtud 
del párrafo 2 del artículo 63 del Acue rdo (véase el documento IP/N/1/VCT/1). 
                                                      
1 In English only./En anglais seulement./En inglés solamente. IP/N/1/VCT/D/1 
Page 2  
 
  SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 
INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS ACT, 2005 
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
 
SECTION  
 
1. Short title and commencement  
2. Interpretation  
3. Definition of industrial design  
4. Registrable industrial designs  
5. Right to registration and naming of creator  
6. Application and right of priority  
7. Examination  
8. Registration and publication  
9. Rights conferred by registration  
10. Duration and renewal of registration  
11. Surrender of registration  
12. Invalidation of registration  
13. Changes in ownership  
14. Licence contracts  
15. Register and publication  
16. Correction of errors  
17. Extension of time  
18. Exercise of discretionary powers  
19. Representation  
20. Competence of Court  
21. Infringement and offences  
22. Regulations  
23. Repeals  
24. Transitional provisions   IP/N/1/VCT/D/1 
 Page 3 
 
 
   
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES 
 
BILL FOR 
 
______________ 
 
ACT NO.       OF 2005 
 
I ASSENT 
 
   [ ]                    Governor-General    
 
 AN ACT  to provide for the registration and protec tion of industrial designs and for related 
matters.   
[ ]  
 
 BE IT ENACTED  by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and 
consent of the House of Assembly of Saint Vincen t and the Grenadines and by the authority of the 
same, as follows:   1. (1)  This Act may be cited as the Industrial Designs Act, 2005.  
 
 (2)  This Act shall come into force on a da te to be fixed by the Governor General by 
Proclamation published in the Gazette.   2. In this Act  -   
“attorney-at-law” means a person duly admitted and entitled to practise law in Saint Vincent 
 and the Grenadines;  
  “Court” means the High Court;   
“International Classification” means the classifi cation according to the Locarno Agreement of 
 October 8, 1968, establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs;  
  “Minister” means the Minister responsible for intellectual property;   
“Paris Convention” means the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of 
 March 20, 1883, as last revised;  
 
“priority date” means the date of the earlier application that serves as the basis for the 
 right of priority provided for in the Paris Convention;  
 
 “Register” means the Register of Industrial Designs;  
 
“Registrar” means the Registrar of the Comm erce and Intellectual Property Office and any 
reference to the Registrar shall be constr ued as including a reference to any officer 
discharging the functions of the Registrar.  IP/N/1/VCT/D/1 
Page 4  
 
   
3.  (1)  For the purposes of this Act, a composition of lines or colours, a three-dimensional form or a material, whether or not associated with lines or colours, is deemed  to be an industrial 
design where such composition, form or material gives a special appearance to a product of industry 
or handicraft, can serve as a pattern for a product of industry or handicraft and appeals to and is 
judged by the eye.  
  (2)  The protection under this Act does not apply to anything in an industrial design which serves solely to obtain a technical result and to the extent that it leaves no freedom as regards arbitrary 
features of appearance.  
 
4.  (1)  An industrial design is registrable if it is new.    (2)  An industrial design is new if it has not been disclosed to the public anywhere in the 
world by publication in tangible form or by use or in any other way, prior to the filing date or, where 
applicable, the priority date of the application for registration.  
  (3)  For the purposes of subsection (2), discl osure to the public of an industrial design 
shall not be taken into consideration if the disclosure:     (a)  occurred within 12 months preceding the filing date or, where applicable, the 
 priority date of the application; and  
   (b)  was by reason or in consequence of acts committed by the applicant or his 
 predecessor in title or of an abuse comm itted by a third party with regard to 
 the applicant or his predecessor in title.  
 
 (4)  An industrial design that is contrary to public order or morality is not registrable.  
 5.  (1)  The right to registration of an industrial design shall belong to the creator.    (2)  Where two or more persons have jointl y created an industrial design, the right to 
registration of the industrial design shall belong to them jointly.  
  (3)  If and to the extent to which two or more persons have created the same industrial 
design independently of each other, the person whose application has the earliest filing date or, if 
priority is claimed, the earliest validity claimed pr iority date, shall have the right to register the 
industrial design, as long as the said applicati on is not withdrawn, abandoned or rejected.  
  (4)  The right to an industrial design may be assigned or may be transferred by succession.    (5)  Where an industrial design is created in execution of an employment contract, the 
right to registration of the industrial design shall belong, in the absence of contractual provisions to 
the contrary, to the employer.    (6)  The creator shall be na med as the creator in the registration of the industrial design 
unless he indicates to the Registrar in a written declaration signed by him and addressed to the 
Registrar that he wishes not to be so named.  
  (7)  A promise or undertaking by the creator ma de to a  person to the effect that he will 
make a declaration referred to in subsec tion (6) shall be without legal effect.  
  IP/N/1/VCT/D/1 
 Page 5 
 
 
  6.  (1)  An application for the registration of  an industrial design shall be filed with the 
Registrar and shall contain a request, drawings, phot ographs or other adequate  graphic representations 
of the article embodying the industrial design and an indication of the kind of product for which the industrial design is to be used.   
 (2)  The application may be accompanied by a specimen of the article embodying the 
industrial design where the industria l design is two-dimensional.  
  (3)  Where the applicant is not the creat or, the request shall be accompanied by a 
statement justifying the applicant’s right to  registration of the industrial design.  
 
 (4)  The application may contain a declaration claiming priority, as provided for in the Paris Convention, of one or more earlier national or regional applications or international deposits 
filed by the applicant or his predecessor in title in  or for any State party to that Convention.  
 
 (5)  Where the application contains a decl aration referred to in subsection (4), the 
Registrar may require that the applicant furnish, with in the prescribed time limit, a copy of the earlier 
application or international deposit, certified as corre ct by the office with which it was filed, and the 
effect of that declaration shall be as provided for in the Paris Convention.    (6)  Where the Registrar finds that th e requirements under this section and the 
Regulations pertaining to a declaration are not fulfilled,  the declaration shall be considered not to have 
been made.    (7)  Two or more industrial designs may be the subject of the same application if they 
relate to the same class of the In ternational Classification or to the same set or composition of articles.  
 
 (8)  An application, at the time of filing, may contain a request that the publication of the 
industrial design, upon registration, be deferred for a period not exceeding twelve months from the 
date of filing, or if priority is claimed, fro m the date of priority, of the application.  
  (9)  The applicant may withdraw the applica tion at any time before it is registered.  
 
 (10)  The application shall be subject to th e payment of the prescribed application fee.  
 7.  (1)  The Registrar shall accord as the filing date the date of rece ipt of the application 
provided that at the time of receipt, the applicati on contains indications allowing the identity of the 
applicant to be established and the required gr aphic representations of the article embodying the 
industrial design.    (2)  Where the Registrar finds that the appli cation did not at the time of receipt fulfill the 
requirements referred to in subsection (1), he shall invite the applicant to file the required correction 
and shall accord as the filing date the date of receip t of the required correction, but if no correction is 
made the application shall be treated as if it had not been filed.  
  (3)  After according a filing date, the Re gistrar shall examine the application for 
compliance with the requirements of section 6 and ascertain that the prescribed  fee has been paid.  
 
 (4)  The Registrar shall examine whethe r the industrial design complies with the 
provisions of sections 3 and 4(4).   IP/N/1/VCT/D/1 
Page 6  
 
  8.  (1)  Where the Registrar is satisfied that the application complies with the requirements of 
sections 3 and 4(4), he shall register the industria l design, publish a reference to the registration and 
issue to the applicant a certificate of registration of the industrial design.    (2)  Where a request for deferment of publ ication has been made under section 6(8), no 
representation of the design or any file relating to  the application shall be open to the public for 
inspection and the Registrar shall publish a notice of deferment which shall contain information 
identifying the registered owner, the filing date of the application, the length of time for which 
deferment has been requested and any other particulars as may be prescribed.   
 (3)  During the period of deferment of publication, legal proceedings on the basis of a 
registered industrial design may not be instituted unl ess the information contained in the Register and 
in the file relating to the application has been co mmunicated to the person against whom the action is 
brought.   
 (4)  At the expiry of the period of deferment, the Registrar shall publish the registered 
industrial design.   9.  (1)  The exploitation of a registered indus trial design in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 
by persons other than the registered owner shall require the agreement of the registered owner.  
 
 (2)  For the purposes of this Act, “exploitati on” of a registered industrial design means the 
making, selling, importing or otherwise distributing, for commercial purposes, articles bearing or embodying a design which is a copy, or substa ntially a copy, of the industrial design.  
  (3)  The rights conferred by registration sh all not extend to acts in respect of articles 
which have been put on the market in Saint Vin cent and the Grenadines by the registered owner or 
with his consent.    (4)  The owner of a registered industrial d esign shall, in addition to any other rights, 
remedies or actions available to him, have the right  to institute court proceedings against any person 
who infringes the registration of the industrial design by performing, without his agreement, any of 
the acts referred to in subsection (2) or who perfo rms acts which make it likely that infringement will 
occur.   10.  (1)  The registration of an industrial design shall be for a period of five years from the filing date of the application for registration.  
 
 (2)  The registration may be renewed for one further consecutive period of five years 
through the payment of the prescribed fee.    (3)  A grace period of six months shall be al lowed for the late payment of the renewal fee 
on payment of the prescribed surcharge.  
 
11.  (1)  The owner of a registered industrial design may surrender it by written declaration to 
the Registrar who shall record the surrend er in the Register and publish it.  
  (2)  The surrender shall have effect from the date on which it is recorded.  
 
12.  (1)  An interested person may apply to the Court for the invalidation of the registration of 
an industrial design.    IP/N/1/VCT/D/1 
 Page 7 
 
 
   (2)  The Court shall invalidate the registra tion of an industrial design if the person 
requesting the invalidation proves that any of the re quirements of sections 3 and 4 are not fulfilled or 
if the registered owner of the industrial design is not the creator or successor in title.    (3)  An invalidated registration of an industri al design, or part thereof, shall be regarded 
as void from the date of the registration.  
  (4)  The decision of the Court or the decisi on on an appeal therefrom shall be notified to 
the Registrar who shall record it and publish a reference to it as soon as possible thereafter.  
 
13.  (1)  A change in the ownership of the re gistration of an industrial design, or in the 
ownership of an application for registration of an i ndustrial design, shall be in writing and shall, upon 
the request of an interested party made to the Re gistrar, be recorded and, except in the case of an 
application for registration of an industrial design, published by the Registrar.   
 (2)  A change under subsection (1) shall be of  no effect against third parties until it has 
been recorded.   14.  (1)  Subject to this section, the owner of  a registered industrial design or an application 
for registration of an industrial design may grant licences in respect of the design.   
 (2)  A copy of each licence contract concerning a registered industrial design, or an 
application for registration of an industrial design, shall be submitted to the Registrar who shall keep 
its contents confidential but shall record  it and publish a reference thereto.  
  (3)  A licence contract shall have no effect against third parties until it is recorded in 
accordance with subsection (2).  
 15.  (1)  The Registrar shall maintain a Register in which he shall record all matters required by this Act to be recorded.    (2)  The Register may be consulted by any person and any person may obtain extracts 
therefrom under the prescribed conditions.  
  (3)  The Registrar shall publish in the pres cribed manner all the publications provided for 
in this Act.   
16. The Registrar may, subject to any provisi on in the Regulations, correct any error of 
translation or transcription, clerical error or mist ake in any application or document filed with the 
Registrar or in any matter recorded pursuant to this Act.   17. (1)  Where the Registrar is satisfied th at the circumstances justify it, he may, upon 
receiving a written request, extend the time for doing an y act or taking any proceeding under this Act, 
upon notice to the parties concerned and upon such terms as he may direct.  
  (2)  The extension may be granted though the time for doing the act or taking the proceeding has expired.   
18. The Registrar shall, before exercising any di scretionary power vested in him by this Act 
adversely to any party to a proceeding before him, give that party an opportunity to be heard.   19. Where an applicant’s ordinary residence or principal place of business is outside Saint 
Vincent and the Grenadines, he shall be  represented by an attorney-at-law.  IP/N/1/VCT/D/1 
Page 8  
 
  20. (1)  The Court shall have jurisdiction in cases of dispute relating to the application of this 
Act and in matters which under this Act are to be referred to the Court.  
  (2)  Any decision taken by the Registrar under this Act, in particular the decision to register an industrial design or to refuse an applicati on for such a registration, may be the subject of an 
appeal by any interested party to the Court and such appeal shall be filed within two months of the 
date of the Registrar’s decision.   21.  (1)  Subject to section 9 (3), an infringement of the rights of an owner of a registered industrial design shall consist of the performance in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines of any act 
referred to in section 9 (2) by a person other than the owner of the registered industrial design and 
without the agreement of the owner of the registered industrial design.    (2)  On the request of the owner of the regist ered industrial design, or of a licensee if the 
licensee has requested the owner to institute court pr oceedings for a specific relief and the owner has 
refused or failed to do so, the Court may grant an injunction to prevent infringement or an imminent 
infringement, award damages or grant any other remedy provided for in the general law.  
  (3)  Any person who intentionally performs an act which constitutes an infringement as 
defined in subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to imprisonm ent for a term not exceeding four years.  
 
22. The Minister may make Regulations prescribi ng all matters that are required or permitted by 
this Act to be prescribed, or are necessary or conv enient to be prescribed for giving effect to the 
provisions of this Act.   
23. The United Kingdom Designs (Protection) Act (her einafter referred to as “the former Act”) is 
hereby repealed.   24. (1)  Notwithstanding the repeal of the form er Act, industrial designs protected thereunder 
shall remain in force but shall, subject to subsection (2), be deemed to be protected under this Act.  
 
 (2)  Industrial designs protected under the former Act shall remain in force for the 
unexpired portion of the period of prot ection provided for under that Act.  
   
Passed in the House of Assembly this   day of    2005.  
   
Clerk of the House of Assembly  
  IP/N/1/VCT/D/1 
 Page 9 
 
 
   
 
OBJECTS AND REASONS 
 
The object of this Bill is to implement the obliga tions of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines under the 
Agreement on the Trade-Related Aspects of Inte llectual Property (TRIPS) by implementing a new 
system for the registration and protection of industrial designs.     
 
    Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves  
Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, 
Planning, Legal Affairs, Labour, 
Information, Grenadines Affairs, Crown Lands, Surveys and Postal Services  
 
__________