The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Government intends to present its updated Intellectual Property (IP) legislation to Parliament next week, a Cabinet Minister adding that the Government was also “revamping” the operations of its IP registry.

Damian Gomez, minister of state for legal affairs, told a Bahamas Institute of Financial Services (BIFS) seminar that the new IP legislation would make the Bahamas completely World Trade Organisation (WTO) compliant.

In order to become a WTO member, the Bahamas must comply with provisions of the WTO’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) agreement, which sets out rules for all major forms of IP including copyright, trademarks, patents and industrial designs.

Also, as part of its obligations under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) , the Bahamas must ensure adequate and effective implementation of the TRIPS agreement.

“We will be completely WTO compliant and that’s important to us from an international trade perspective,m” Mr Gomez said.

“Essentially, we’re revamping how we do business in the IP registry. This an achievement which we can be proud of considering that the new IP legislation has been outstanding for at least a decade.”

Mr Gomez added that the legislation was necessary to provide IP holders with the required levels of protection, and the ability to attain that protection. He further pointed out that the new legislation would provide for the protection of Bahamian innovation and build investor confidence.

Mr Gomez’s comments echoed by fellow Cabinet minister Ryan Pinder, who told a Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) luncheon that the revamped IP legislation was “fundamental to our economic development”.

He added: “How can you attract international business to do business in your country if you cannot give them a modern-day framework to protect what, in some instances, might be their most valuable asset - their trademarks, licences, patents, their product that is patented.

“In many instances, in international business, their intellectual property is their most important asset.”

Mr Pinder said the Bahamas could show off all the infrastructure an investor could desire, but a Copyright Act dated from the last century meant that investors would be turned-off.

Mr Gomez, meanwhile, said that presenting the new IP legislation in Parliament was only the first phase of reforms, with plans underway to improve the overall service at the IP office in the Registrar General’s Department.

“The laying of the legislation is only phase one,” he said. “Intellectual property holders will be afforded the same, if not better, treatment than we have provided owners of companies.

“We have already expanded the space of the IP office within the Registrar General’s Department to accommodate the processing of applications and improvement of services in that regard. We have initiated training for all staff to examine IP applications. What we are doing is setting the foundation for a fully functional intellectual property office.”