New Patents and Designs Bill to be tabled in Parliament

State Minister in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon Floyd Green, says that the Ministry is working towards the tabling of a new Patents and Designs Bill in Parliament this financial year. He noted that the Patents and Designs Bill will stand at the heart of monetizing our ideas and inventions.

“We have to modernize our legal framework. We have to modernize Jamaica’s IP regime, which is a key component of leveraging the value of our creative works. That is why, as a government, we are prioritizing bringing the necessary changes through parliament this year to our Trade Marks Act and our Patents and Designs Bill,” Minister Green said.

Minister Green was speaking at the official launch of IP Week 2019, under the theme ‘IP and Sports: Reach for Gold’, at the JAMPRO Business Auditorium, 18 Trafalgar Road, on April 23.

According to the Minister, ideas are generating right across the length and breadth of Jamaica necessitating a drive towards greater efficiency and reach of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office through greater use of technology.

“The reality is that wherever people reside, they must be able to access the services that we provide to protect their ideas and as such, we have to use technology to make it easier for that young man or young woman in rural Jamaica who is coming up with an invention that can transform his or her life, to be able to protect that idea from an early stage,” said Minister Green.

The Minister pointed out that the Government is committed to using technology to make the services of JIPO more accessible to everyone across Jamaica. He added further that there needs to be a more robust educational drive in order for people to appreciate the need to protect their ideas.

Intellectual Property Week 2019 will be celebrated from April 23 to 28 in Jamaica, with the observance of World Intellectual Property Day on April 26.
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