JIPO and WIPO Sign Letter of Intent to Establish IPTI In Jamaica

A Letter of Intent has been signed between the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), to cooperate on the proposed establishment of an Intellectual Property Training Institution (IPTI) in Jamaica.

This has been facilitated through JIPO’s parent Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC).

The signing ceremony was held on Monday (May 18), at the Ministry’s St. Lucia offices in New Kingston.

It forms part of the official visit to Jamaica by Director General of the United Nations (UN) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Daren Tang, and the accompanying WIPO delegation, which will last from May 16 to 20.

The proposed IPTI will be established within JIPO under the WIPO Academy’s global Intellectual Property Training Institutions Programme, which supports the development of national intellectual property training centres within WIPO Member States.

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, noted that key areas of discussion included an updated Intellectual Property Policy for Jamaica.

“We discussed how we can expand the cooperation between Jamaica’s Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) and the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) in Geneva. We have had very good discussions,” he said.

“Intellectual Property (IP) is not just about having a document; it is not just for large companies; it is [also for persons creating at the micro] level. We want to ensure that we capture these innovations, give them the title of their creative products and the services they are creating and make sure they are properly protected. Whether it is in culture, music, sport, engineering or information and communications technology (ICT), we can get protection for our Jamaican creators,” the Minister said.

For his part, Mr. Tang said intellectual property is for anyone who has created value.

“We are looking to see what the World intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) can do to support Jamaican innovators, businessowners, entrepreneurs and other members of the creative economy, not just to protect their ideas, their inventions and art and culture but also to use this to bring them to market,” he said.

The institution is intended to serve as a national hub for intellectual property education, training, and skills development, responding to the growing demand for IP knowledge across Jamaica’s business, creative, entrepreneurial, and innovation sectors.

The agreement reflects Jamaica’s commitment to strengthening sustainable national intellectual property capacity and expanding access to intellectual property education and skills development.

Cooperation activities under the Letter of Intent are expected to commence in 2027.