NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STRATEGIC PLAN IN THE PIPELINE
Government with the assistance of the World Intellectual Property Organization has formulated a national intellectual property strategic plan with the objective of making our economy more competitive globally.
This was disclosed by Registrar of the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO), Heather Clarke who said that such competitiveness could only be achieved through creativity, productivity and innovation in the economic, cultural and social sectors.
She was speaking this morning at a conference hosted by the Association of Caribbean Copyright Societies at the Barbados Beach Club, Maxwell Christ Church on the topic: Towards the Establishment of the Caribbean Creative Industries Sector: Stakeholders Building a System for Success.
Acknowledging that proposals for the implementation of certain aspects of the national plan have been submitted and are under consideration, the Registrar admitted that given the significant role of the creative industries sector to our economies, Government has implemented several initiatives for the development and the repositioning of the cultural industries as a viable and sustainable sector of our economy.
“Such support was evidenced by policy changes, the provision of grants, incentives, the provision of funding for cultural projects and cultural entertainment, duty free concessions as well as the provision of grants for our creative and cultural practitioners. Support for these initiatives can be found in the enabling legislation, the Cultural Industries Development Act of 2013 and work is ongoing for the establishment of an Authority to sustain, regulate and facilitate the development of our cultural industries,” she divulged.
Ms. Clarke also pointed out that the emergence and growth of the creative industries as a viable economic sector has been accompanied by changes and developments particularly within the last 10 to 15 years.
She added that such changes have been primarily in the field of copyright and related rights and included the development of new norms at the international level, which have created a variety of challenges for our key stakeholders, in particular, our authors, rights holders and collective management societies and this included new digital technologies and telecommunications – the internet and the ever expanding new ways for exploiting works.
However, she was quick to stress that in response to the changing environment, Government was committed to strengthening the regulatory and legal framework.
“…In order to facilitate the growth and sustainable development of the sector work is currently being undertaken by CAIPO and the Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property which is a Ministerial appointed body,” she underlined. (TB/BGIS)
