Brand Jamaica Must Be Protected – Senator Hill

The Government continues to enhance the development and protection of the intellectual property (IP) rights of Jamaicans as a key contributor to national development, says Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill.

“Brand Jamaica and the excellence of our products and services must be protected and not infringed if they are to contribute meaningfully to Jamaica’s growth and development,” he noted.

The Minister, who was addressing the recent CARIFORUM Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation Case law Conference at the Spanish Court Hotel in Kingston, said that through the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), works as diverse as music and computer programmes are protected by copyright; pharmaceuticals, by patents; and clothing and jewellery are protected as designs.

He informed that Jamaica jerk and rum have Geographical Indications protection, which provides safeguards against misuse or imitation of the registered names and guarantees the true origin of the products to customers.

The Minister noted, further, that Jamaica is a signatory to international treaties that have enabled businesspersons to more easily access the global IP system for the registration of their intellectual property.

“Examples are design rights through the Hague Agreement concerning the international registration of industrial designs, inventions and innovations through the Patent Corporation Treaty and, of course, the protection of business owners’ trademarks through the Madrid Protocol, which we most recently signed. We have ensured that this is a local provision through JIPO and have facilitated the international provisions through these international treaties,” he informed.

Senator Hill, in welcoming the staging of the Case Law Conference said the work of the judiciary in interpreting and giving effect to clarifying issues that arise in IP legislation is one of the key pillars of governance.

The hybrid conference was attended by members of the judiciary and academia from Caribbean and Latin American countries.

It aimed to increase capacity and knowledge among the judiciary, the legal profession and relevant educational institutions about intellectual property issues.