In November 2019 the Director, Mrs. Vincentia Rosen-Sandiford, as well as the Deputy Director, Mrs. Aarti Jusia-Ramdihal of the Bureau for Intellectual Property Sint Maarten (BIP SXM) attended the 5th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Intellectual Property Caribbean Association (IPCA) in Trinidad. BIP SXM has been a member of IPCA since 2017.
The theme for this year’s AGM was “Anti-counterfeiting in the Caribbean”. Insightful keynotes were given by IP lawyers from Trinidad & Tobago, Belize and Jamaica. They discussed several topics such as: the stakeholders and victims of counterfeit products, their global economic impact as well as the challenges in enforcement actions taken against counterfeit.
The association has installed four unique committees whom are tasked with topics ranging from education and training, legislation and registry liaison, enforcement and anti-counterfeiting, as well as marketing. All committees work both individually and collectively to meet the objectives of IPCA. BIP SXM is an active member of the ‘Dolphin Team’. The Dolphin’s mission is to aid in the education and training of current and future practitioners in the Caribbean. During the year the Director has attended digital team meetings with the committee members to streamline plans and ideas.
During the committee meeting at the AGM, the Director of BIP SXM contributed as well by presenting an internet-based project management tool that BIP SXM uses, as a solution to increase the collaboration between committee members and optimize the project management for the IPCA network which is spread out in the Caribbean.
IPCA currently has members in 35 Caribbean countries. The association is still young and just like BIP SXM, is working on increasing awareness of Intellectual Property rights in the region. More information and membership forms are available on www.ipca.website.
IPCA was formed to establish a forum for better communication and collaboration amongst Intellectual Property (IP) practitioners in the Caribbean. Besides that, IPCA aids in the exchange of ideas and provides more networking opportunities for its members. The association aims through its existence to promote the awareness of IP rights in the Caribbean. Incorporated in the Cayman Islands, IPCA is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee without any share capital.
The Bureau registers trademarks and provides information about other areas of intellectual property, such as patents and copyright, to the public which can be found on www.bip.sx and on social media (Facebook and LinkedIn).