When Jamaica joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, compliance with the WTO TRIPs Agreement triggered a drastic revision of local IP laws and the reorganization and strengthening of institutions to support a modern and robust IP rights regime. Most of the 1990s and into the new millennium was spent on the enactment of TRIPs-compliant legislation. The late 1990s also saw the creation of collecting societies for the management of copyright.
Undoubtedly, IP rights owners have greater protection today given the significant updates in the laws on trade marks and copyright and new laws protecting geographical indications and layout designs of integrated circuits. The laws on patent and designs still remain outdated and protection for new plant varieties has yet to be put in place. But Jamaica has been gradually shifting its focus from merely becoming TRIPs-compliant to utilizing IP rights as tools for economic development. This article takes us through some significant legal and administrative developments in IP since Jamaica's entry into the WTO and gives a glimpse into the future of the IP rights landscape in Jamaica.
Foreign and Jamaican use
Although the registration of trade marks was an already well-entrenched form of protection in Jamaica before TRIPs a number of notable changes were brought about by the enactment of the Trade Marks Act of 1999. This Act came into force in 2001 and repealed the Trade Marks Act of 1958. It implemented the TRIPs Agreement and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. The changes included an increase in the initial duration of protection from seven to 10 years, multi-class applications in respect of goods and/or services, the making of priority claims by virtue of the Paris Convention. It also provided for the protection for well-known marks, the registration of service marks and collective marks and the possibility of registering colour and shape marks, with some exceptions.
Before the implementation of the 1999 Act, the vast majority of trade mark applications were filed by foreign nationals. However Jamaican residents are now using the system more intensively. Of the 1,465 trade mark applications filed in 2004, only 311 were filed by residents; from January to August 2006, 503 of the 1,324 filings were made by residents. There are a few deficiencies in the system, but the Practice Directions and proposed changes to the Trade Marks Act and Rules are addressing them. The Practice Directions deal with extensions of time in inter-party hearings, the submission of letters of consent regarding the concurrent use or registration of marks, the registration of surnames and the issuance of joint certificates in respect of changes to application or registration details. Proposals to amend the Trade Marks Act expand the grounds of revocation and provide for a cooling-off period in opposition proceedings. This would allow for the suspension of the time period within which to file the counterstatement towards settlement. The government's Chief Parliamentary Counsel is drafting the amendments.
Copyright
The Copyright Act of 1993 was considered modern even though it predated the TRIPs Agreement. It repealed the UK Copyright Act of 1911 which applied in Jamaica. It implemented the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations. Amendments to the Act in 1999 sought to implement provisions of TRIPs concerning the protection of compilations of data. They also implemented a bilateral agreement on the protection and enforcement of IP rights between the US and Jamaica, which was signed in 1994, just ahead of the adoption of TRIPs. Among other things, the amendments made it an offence to knowingly manufacture or trade in decoders of encrypted transmissions without the requisite authorization.