Participants of the meeting.
PHILIPSBURG--The Bureau for Intellectual Property St. Maarten (BIP SXM) was represented at the fifth Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Intellectual Property Caribbean Association (IPCA) in Trinidad in November.
BIP SXM has been a member of IPCA since 2017. BIP Director Vincentia Rosen-Sandiford and Deputy Director Aarti Jusia-Ramdihal attended the meeting.
The theme for this year’s AGM was “Anti-counterfeiting in the Caribbean.” BIP said in a press release that “insightful keynotes” were delivered by IP lawyers from Trinidad and Tobago, Belize and Jamaica. They discussed several topics such as 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 committees tasked with handling topics ranging from education and training, legislation and registry liaison, enforcement and anti-counterfeiting, as well as marketing. The committees work 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 BIP Director attended digital team meetings with committee members to streamline plans and ideas. During the committee meeting at the AGM, the BIP Director contributed 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 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.
