THE Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) is encouraging athletes to protect their brand and image rights, particularly ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

While a few prominent Jamaican sports men and women have registered with JIPO, there are a number of emerging stars, and even established ones, who are yet to do so.

“Even though you’re not famous as yet, you might become famous at Rio and then you might lose out [on capitalising] on your fame,” said Lilyclaire Bellamy, JIPO’s executive director, while she addressed reporters and editors during yesterday’s

Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange held at the tabloid’s Beechwood Avenue base.

“Whenever there is an international meet and our athletes do well, our office gets lots of phone calls from persons who are not related to or [who don’t] have any nexus or relation with the athletes.

“How many times after an international event — and somebody is successful — you see their image on a T-shirt and it’s being sold and you think you’re buying the T-shirt to support that person, whereas that person isn’t getting anything from it,” she added.

Intellectual Property Rights refers to creations of the mind. Some common types of these rights are trademark, copyright, patents, design rights, and covers artistic works; words and symbols; and discoveries and inventions.

JIPO has 45 different classes of rights protection, which can include image on a T-shirt or using a name as part of a marketing advertisement.

An individual’s application for rights protection for a particular class costs $7,800. It costs $2,200 to add each additional class. There is a one-time fee of $10,000 for registration lasting 10 years.

Bellamy urged Jamaican sport stars to avoid being reactive.

“You can be proactive and make an application. You know the chances of you being successful at Rio are really high. There is one athlete I can think of right now, who, as far as I know, she does not have a trademark,” Bellamy said.

Marcus Goffe, JIPO’s deputy director and legal counsel, noted the intensified use of athletes’ image rights by corporate entities, especially soon after a major world sporting event, to market products or services.

“We see each time after the Olympics and certain meets [where] corporations take out large ads in your papers saying congrats to X and Y.

“That’s a big problem for IP [Intellectual Property] Rights: riding on that person’s brand and goodwill to market your goods without any permission or any share of the proceeds,” said Goffe during the Monday Exchange.

The legal counsel said he has not “heard of any” cases where actions have been brought against a company for any such breach. But he said there is the possibility that parties were brought together to “negotiate” and work on “some deals”.

Jamaican female sprint icon Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, track legend Usain Bolt, former 100-metre world record holder Asafa Powell and West Indies cricketer Christopher Gayle are said to be among those who have protected their property rights.

No Jamaican footballer is known to have protected his or her image right.

Also in attendance at the Monday Exchange were Tracey Herdsman, examiner in patent directorate at JIPO and Sophia Clarke, JIPO’s copyright and related rights manager.

The Jamaica Intellectual Property Office, which is located on Trafalgar Road, aims to encourage innovation and creativity.

It was established in 2001, but it is said that protection of property rights existed in Jamaica from the 19th Century.

World Intellectual Property Day is celebrated on April 26 each year.