DIRECTOR general of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Dr Kamil Idris, will be visiting Jamaica from March 11 to 12, during which he will launch the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) and participate in a roundtable discussion at the University of Technology.

Senior programme officer at JIPO, Carol Simpson, said the director general’s visit was significant, as WIPO had provided tangible assistance to Jamaica to set up its own intellectual property office.

With the establishment of JIPO has come the centralisation of all aspects of intellectual property — trademarks, patents, and copyright.

Simpson, in an interview with the Jamaica Information Service, said Jamaica has played a very vital role in the protection of intellectual property rights. Citing the example of copyright, she noted that Government had facilitated the establishment of several collecting societies including Jamaica Musical Rights Society, Intellectual Property Service Centre and Jamaica Performers Administration Society.

“We have a very modern Copyright Act that was passed in 1993 and amended in 1999 to keep us in tune with what is happening internationally and with our obligations with the World Trade Organisation (WTO),” Simpson said.

She said also that a new trademark law was just passed, adding that modern legislation relating to patents was now being implemented.

“Jamaica is now playing an active role in looking at the whole area of protection of traditional knowledge and folklore, which is very new,” Simpson said, adding that there was no international norm to regulate this area.

WIPO is an international organisation dedicated to promoting the use and protection of intellectual property. Through this effort, WIPO is playing an important role in enhancing the quality and enjoyment of life, as well as creating real wealth for nations.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WIPO is one of the 16 specialised agencies of the United Nations system of organisations.

It administers 23 international treaties dealing with different aspects of intellectual property protection. The organisation counts 177 nations as member states.

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, including inventions, literary and artistic works and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.

It is, however, divided into two categories — industrial property and copyright.

Industrial property includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs and geographic indications of source, while copyright deals with literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs.

Rights related to copyright include those of performing artistes in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programmes.