Jamaica ranked 72nd on the Global Innovation Index 2020

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, the Hon. Audley Shaw this morning delivered remarks at the GII Webinar - On Innovation & Economic Resilience: Opportunities for Jamaica. The webinar was organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in cooperation with the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce and The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB).
The webinars focus was the review of Jamaica’s performance on the global innovation index 2020 and to discuss opportunities for Jamaica to strengthen the intellectual property ecosystem to incentivize and drive innovation among the public and private sectors, to facilitate economic resiliency in Jamaica.
During his address the Minister reflected on the Global Innovation Index 2020. He proudly stated that “Jamaica has moved up nine places to hold the 72nd position (up by 9 places) across the upper-middle-income countries as it relates to innovative capabilities, ranking seventh among the eighteen economies in Latin American and the Caribbean, and performing above average in three out of the seven GII pillars: institutions, business sophistication and creative output.”
For the first time in the GII, Jamaica was recognized as an “innovation achiever”.
Jamaica ranked in the top 80 innovative countries in the world in 2020, compared with being in the top 100 in 2019. The GII recognized Jamaica as the only innovation achiever in the English-speaking Caribbean, exhibiting innovation above expectations relative to our level of development.
Intellectual property rights allow innovators to protect their core business, research and development activities. The entrepreneur can register their trade mark to build brands and increase the value of the brand. They can register their designs, register their songs and artwork as copyright works and protect their inventions through patents.
Jamaica is on the verge of bringing into operation the Patents and Designs Act, 2020 following the county’s accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Hague Agreement concerning the international registration of Industrial Designs. This Act provides for a modern regulatory regime for grant of patent or utility model and protection for registered designs.
The Trademarks Act is also being amended to pave the way for Jamaica’s much anticipated accession to the Madrid Protocol, something that has long been advocated for by Jamaican MSMEs.
Attendees at this mornings webinar included: Mrs. Sancia Bennett-Templer, Permanent Secretary MIIC; Ms. Daenia Ashpole, Director Trade, MIIC; Ms. Sophia Wellington, Senior Director, Industry Division, MIIC; Ms. Lilyclaire Bellamy, Executive Director, Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), Kingston; Dr. Marcus Goffe, Deputy Director/Legal Counsel of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) Kingston; Mr. Lorenzo Escondeur, Chief of Operations, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), Kingston; Mr. Marco Aleman, Assistant Director General, IP Innovation Eco-system, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva; Ms. Kayla Grant, IDB; Ms. Patricia Lewin, Senior Technology Officer, National Commission for Science and Technology (NCST); Dr. Charah Watson, Executive Director, Scientific Research Council (SRC) among others
On the heels of a successful event this morning, WIPO in association with JIPO[an agency of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce] and the IADB will be hosting a second virtual event tomorrow starting at 9:00 am dubbed: Strengthening the Innovation Eco-System of the Caribbean.

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