The Bureau for Intellectual Property (the Bureau), attended a two-day workshop, held in Curaçao on August 17th and 18th, organized by the Ministry of Economic Development of Curaçao with support from the COSME programme.
The facilitator of the event, Ms. Kayanne Anderson was contracted by COSME to conduct a study on the use of intellectual property by small and medium-sized enterprises as a competitiveness tool in the Overseas Caribbean Territories (OCT's). Ms. Anderson is specialized in intellectual property law and founder of IP Exchange Caribbean.
The focus of the two-day workshop was a discussion on how best to implement the proposed strategy for the registration and use of intellectual property by small and medium-sized enterprises in the OCT's. Attendees came from Anguilla, Aruba, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, St. Eustatius, Sint Maarten and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Among the attendees were representatives from Business Service Operators (BSO's), Ministries and Intellectual Property Offices (IPO's).
The COSME Programme was launched in 2014. The program’s overall objective is to contribute to the sustainable and climate-resilient economic diversification and prosperity of the OCT's. This by improving the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in the participating territories. For more information about COSME see: http://www.cosmeprogramme.org/
During the workshop there were lively discussions about the use of intellectual property as a competitiveness tool for enterprises. For example: how can the OCT's encourage the exploitation of the intellectual property system by enterprises in the region? Several examples were given based on the report, such as the collaboration of BSO's and IPO's in the region.
This isn’t the Bureau’s first time working together with COSME and the facilitator of the event, Ms. Kayanne Anderson. Last year June, COSME together with the department of Economy, Transport and Telecommunication, and Foundation INFOBIZZ hosted an IP clinic on Sint Maarten. The Bureau partnered with these organizations to provide information to local entrepreneurs relating to procedural aspects of the registration of trademarks and other intellectual property rights on Sint Maarten.
The Director of the Bureau, Mrs. Rosen-Sandiford says: "collaboration is vital to the success of the Bureau and the use of intellectual property by SME's in the region." She also says she looks forward to future follow-up with stakeholders on this topic.