Legislation

Set out below is a list of the enactments and conventions which are currently administered by the Department. For convenience, the enactments have been classified under three (3) sub-headings, A, B and C with the conventions being found under subheading D.

Acts available online for viewing are hyper-linked at the end of the brief description.

A. GENERAL

1. Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Act, Cap. 21A
An Act to provide for the establishment of the Office of Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property and setting out the enactments for which the Department is responsible.

2. Public Documents (Exemptions from Diplomatic or Consular
Legalization) Act, Cap. 122
An Act providing for the issuance by the Registrar of an Apostille certificates certifying the authenticity of certain public documents in accordance with Barbados' obligations under the 1961 Hague Convention.

3. Stamp Duty Act, Cap. 91
An Act to impose certain stamp duties on various categories of commercial documentation.

4. Property Transfer Tax Act, Cap. 84A
An Act to provide for the imposition of a tax on the disposal of land
and company shares and for related matters. The Registrar functions as an adjudicator of property transfer tax.

B. CORPORATE AFFAIRS

5. Companies Act, Cap. 308 and the Companies Regulations, 1984
An Act to revise and amend the laws relating to companies and to provide for related and consequential matters. View the Act. View the Regulations

6. Societies with Restricted Liability Act, 1995-7
An Act to provide for the organisation of societies with restricted liability with full corporate personality and for related matters. View the Act.

7. International Trusts Act, 1995-14
An Act to provide for the creation and regulation of international trusts and related matters.

8. Limited Partnerships Act, Cap. 312
An Act to establish limited partnerships and providing for their registration.

9. Registration of Business Names Act, Cap. 317
An Act to provide for the registration of firms and persons carrying on business under business names and for related matters.

10. Bills of Sale Act, Cap 306
An Act for preventing frauds upon creditors by secret bills of sale of personal chattels.

11. Charities Act, Cap. 243
An Act to provide for the registration of charities and related matters.

12. Trustee Act, Cap. 250
An Act relating to trustees and their obligations.

13. Caribbean (CARICOM ENTERPRISES) Act, Cap. 14B
An Act to provide for the implementation by Barbados of the agreement for the establishment of a Regime for CARICOM ENTERPRISES and for related matters.

14. Registration of Newspapers Act, Cap. 302
An Act to provide for the registration of newspapers.

15. Insurance Act, Cap. 310
An Act to make provision for regulating the carrying on of insurance
business in Barbados.

16. Trade Unions Act, Cap. 361
An Act to consolidate and revise the law relating to trade unions.

17. Pharmacy Act, Cap. 372D
An Act to make provision for the control and practices of pharmacies and for the registration and control of persons admitted to practise and exercise the business or calling of pharmacy and for the registration of premises used as pharmacies.

18. Small Business Development Act, 1999-23
An Act establishing a regulatory framework that would facilitate the growth of the small business sector in Barbados and establishing a register of approved small businesses to be maintained by the Registrar.

19. Offshore Banking Act, Cap. 325
An Act to enable certain banking and other businesses to be carried on from within Barbados in foreign monies, securities and properties for foreign customers. View the Act.

20. Exempt Insurance Act, Cap. 308A
An Act to enable companies to carry on exempt insurance business from within Barbados. View the Act.

21. Barbados Foreign Sales Corporation Act, Cap. 59C
An Act to provide for income tax and other concessions to foreign sales corporations established in Barbados.

22. International Business Companies Act, 1991-24
An Act which deals with international manufacturing trade and commerce companies. View the Act.

C. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

23. Patents Act, Cap. 314 and the regulations made thereunder,
An Act to provide for protection of inventions and which sets out the procedure for making patent applications and the grant of patents.

24. Trade Marks Act, Cap. 319 and the regulations made thereunder,
An Act to provide for the protection of trade names, logos, slogans, brands and other marks used in connection with goods and services and which sets out the procedure for making trade mark applications and for the grant thereof.

25. Industrial Designs Act, Cap. 319A and regulations made thereunder
An Act to provide for the protection of designs of industry and handicraft and which sets out the procedures for making industrial design applications and for the grant thereof.

26. Copyright Act, 1998-4
An Act which introduces modern provisions for the protection of rights in literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works and other protected works.

27. Geographical Indications Act, 1998-22
An Act to protect indications which identify goods as originating in the territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin (e.g. Champagne for wines and spirits).

28. Integrated Circuits Topography Act, 1998-21
An Act to provide protection for the layout designs of integrated circuits and which sets out the procedures for making applications for protection of rights in layout designs of integrated circuits and for the grant thereof.

29. Protection Against Unfair Competition Act, 1998-20
An Act to provide for protection against unfair competition within the context of Barbados' obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights of the World Trade Organization.

30. Protection of New Plant Varieties Act, 2001-17
An Act to provide protection for plant breeder's rights and which sets out the procedures for making applications for protection of such rights and for the grant thereof.

D. CONVENTIONS

1. Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization
http://www.wipo.int/members/convention/index.html

2. Paris Convention for the Protection of industrial Property, 1883 as revised in 1967
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/ip/paris/index.html

3. The Nairobi Treaty for the Protection of the Olympic Symbol
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/ip/nairobi/index.html

4. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), 1970
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/registration/pct/index.html

5. The Nice Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of Registration of Marks, 1967
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/classification/nice/index.html

6. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works 1986
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/ip/berne/index.html

7. The Rome Convention for the Protection of Performances, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations, 1961.
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/ip/rome/index.html

8. The Geneva Convention for the Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication
http://www.wipo.int/treaties/ip/geneva/index.html

9. The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation For
Foreign Public Documents, 1961
http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.text&cid=41

10. The WTO/TRIPS Agreement on the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property.
http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips.doc

IMPORTANT NOTE: The preceding notes and all published material contained in this website are intended to provide general information to the public on the various topics covered. The material published on this website is the copyright of the Government of Barbados and may not be reproduced in whole or part unless permission is first obtained from the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office. Further, the information provided on this website should not be used in substitution for consulting the texts of the relevant Laws of Barbados or seeking independent legal or other advice.