Jamaica Working With WIPO To Strength IP Protection

Jamaica and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) are strengthening cooperation to protect and grow Jamaica’s creative and business industries.

The partnership will support training and capacity-building and stronger intellectual property (IP) policies.

During the recent visit to Jamaica by the WIPO Director General, Daren Tang, two letters of intent were signed to establish cooperation on a structured intellectual property training and skills-development programme for Jamaican diplomats and government officials, and to cooperate on the proposed establishment of an Intellectual Property Training Institution (IPTI) in the island.

Speaking at a reception in his honour at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, Mr. Tang said that WIPO will be working with the Government to revise and update the national Intellectual Property (IP) strategy to treat innovation as an economic enabler rather than just a legal formality.

The objective is to better enable local creatives, musicians, athletes and entrepreneurs to monetise their IP assets.

“We have had profound discussions about the future of Jamaica where it is not just a cultural powerhouse but an island of innovation, as well, not just for your people but for the region and beyond,” he said.

“This national IP strategy is not just about IP as a vertical [framework]. This is going to be horizontal because IP now touches on every aspect of economy, society and culture. It is connected to education; it is connected to the researchers who need to bring their laboratory ideas to the market using IP. It is connected to musicians, health, the agricultural sector. Because of the geographical indications, it is connected to your micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) of which there are 400,000 and need help to scale and become global brands,” Mr. Tang said.

In highlighting Jamaica’s IP development, he noted that the island now ranks 10th in Latin America and the Caribbean and is climbing in the WIPO global innovation index.

“We are looking at how we can position IP as a financial asset so that Jamaican entrepreneurs can go to the banks, not just development banks, but also commercial banks, to present ideas and collateral and get financing in order to grow their companies,” Mr. Tang said.

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, said that Jamaica has demonstrated its commitment to an IP ecosystem that is commercially dynamic and broadly inclusive.

He noted that the country acceded to the Marrakesh Treaty in 2024 and enacted the Copyright Amendment Act in 2023.

“Since Jamaica acceded to the Madrid Protocol, the Hague Agreement for Industrial Designs, and the Patent Corporation Treaty, all in 2022, a remarkable 4,801 international applications have been designated or filed with Jamaica through the Madrid Protocol alone,” he informed.

In addition, he said that there are 41,089 intellectual property registrations currently held in Jamaica, 35,105 trademarks, 1,373 industrial designs, 376 patents, 154 international industrial design registrations, and 154 international industrial design registrations through the Hague System.

Minister Hill noted that today, Jamaica’s cultural and creative industries generate an estimated $107 billion annually, contributing roughly 5.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

This exceeds the global average of three per cent and the Latin American and Caribbean average of 3.1 per cent.

“This cultural creative industry includes our music, our film, visual arts, fashion, culinary items, digital creativity, and technology, which are economic assets that we must use and deploy and benefit from. These assets must be protected, registered, marketed and exported with the same discipline we apply to any other commodity,” the Minister pointed out.