Jamaica set to become Caribbean regional hub for Intellectual Property training

Photo by Rock Staar on Unsplash

Jamaica is on track to become the premier Intellectual Property (IP) training hub for the region with the proposed establishment of a training institute by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The Jamaican government has said that the institute is expected to go live in 2027 and will act as a centre for ongoing education, training, skills development, and capacity-building for Jamaica’s innovation and intellectual property framework.

It will be established under WIPO Academy’s global Intellectual Property Training Institutions (IPTI) programme.

During an official visit to Jamaica, WIPO Director General Daren Tang confirmed that the institute will also help to equip business owners and innovators across the region. He said to Jamaican media during a tour of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office headquarters:

“We want Jamaicans to be a hub to train people in the whole region. Jamaica has got a great vibe, great beaches, great culture, great music. People want to come here. So, we can be a place in Jamaica where people come from all over the world to get trained in IP. Not IP law, not IT technical IP things, but IP [as] a way to grow their business.”

DG Tang added:

“It’s going to have a much broader vision. IP needs to be brought down to the ground and that means that the curriculum, the way we develop the courses, [will be] tailored not just for experts but even for those who are on the ground at the grassroots.’’

Executive Director at JIPO, Lilyclaire Bellamy, thanked DG Tang for the ongoing support that JIPO has received from WIPO. His visit marks the first by a WIPO Director General to JIPO since the Office officially opened in 2002.

Inngot worked with JIPO and the Inter-American Development Bank on a pilot IP-backed finance project to encourage Jamaican banks to explore the use of intellectual property and intangible assets (IP) as collateral for bank lending. This work was referenced in the WIPO publication, Country Perspectives: Jamaica’s Journey, one of the organisation’s Unlocking IP-backed Financing Series – Country Perspectives series.