JIPO and CarIPI together mark World IP Day 2021
On the occasion of World IP Day (26 April), the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) and the EU-funded CarIPI project are organising the IP Week ‘IP & MSMEs: Taking your ideas to market’. The purpose of the joint webinars and other online events, organised to take place from 23-29 April 2021, is to give SMEs and the public the opportunity to discover how IP rights can benefit their businesses and stimulate economic growth.
Andrea di Carlo, Deputy Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office, EUIPO, participated in the official opening ceremony. “The need to join forces to improve the transparency, user-friendliness and efficiency of our intellectual property (IP) systems, as well as the protection of IP assets applies equally to Caribbean businesses. We would like to see CarIPI continue to evolve as a platform for cooperation that can act as a bridge between EU and the CARIFORUM region in order to create an IP landscape that benefits everyone.
The SME priority in this year’s World IP Day is an important reminder that we can leave no businesses behind. We, therefore, look forward to continuing working with you to create an environment in which all our businesses can overcome the current crisis and look forward to the future with confidence”, stated di Carlo.
Opening remarks were also delivered by Miss Lilyclaire Bellamy, Executive Director of JIPO, the honourable Minister Mr Audley Shaw, Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, and Ms Debbie Salmon, Chairperson of the JIPO Advisory Board.
The first event of the JIPO IP Week took place on 23 April to celebrate the UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day ‘Creating copyright compliance through access – the Marrakesh Treaty’. On 26 April, which is World IP Day, the official opening ceremony will be followed by the launch of an essay competition for primary and secondary school children. There will also be a webinar for SMEs where enterprises from Jamaica and the EU share experiences on how IP helps businesses strive. For the rest of IP Week, the following will take centre stage: designs, patents, IP enforcement, IP valuation, and IP-based financing for MSMEs.
The CarIPI project collaborates with the JIPO in the framework of the regional CARIFORUM Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation project. The expected outcome of this project is to further align IP laws, tools and practices to make it easier for the EU Member States and the CARIFORUM States to do business. CARIFORUM comprises 16 small island states in the Caribbean.