The Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) will observe Intellectual Property Week from April 22nd to 29th, 2012 under the theme “Nation Building through Creativity and Innovation”. Intellectual Property Week is an extension of World Intellectual Property Day observed by JIPO’s international partners- WIPO celebrating innovation and creativity and how intellectual property fosters and encourages them.

JIPO has planned a series of activities aimed at celebrating Jamaica's 50 years of Independence, focusing on maximizing our intellectual property potential. Activities include two public fora – through an open day at the JIPO Headquarters in New Kingston and an outdoor session in Montego Bay. The celebrations will commence with a church service and culminate with a major outdoor event in Montego Bay.

(Full calendar listed below).

Intellectual Property Week is expected to increase the general understanding of what IP really means and offers an exciting chance to highlight, discuss and demonstrate how the IP system contributes to the flourishing of music and the arts and to driving the technological innovation that helps shape our world.

The Jamaica Intellectual Property Office is an agency under the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce with a mission to establish and administer a modern and effective intellectual property system which will be a catalyst for international competitiveness, facilitating economic growth and national development. For further information contact Coleen Douglas at 849-9560 or coleendouglas@hotmail.com .

IP Week Programme of Activities- April 22nd- 29th, 2012

Event: IP Week Church Service
Time: 8:30 to 10:00am
Venue: Holy Trinity Cathedral, 1 George Headley Dr., Kgn. 4 (beside Sabina Park)

Monday, April 23rd
Event: Press Launch-IP Week
Time: 10:00 to 11:00am
Venue: JAMPRO Training Room, 1st floor 18 Trafalgar Rd., Kgn 10
The launch will outline work being done by JIPO and focus on key activities for IP Week and will feature performances by the Informative History Man and poet Simone C. Simpson. Media is especially invited.

Event: JIPO Open Day
Time: 11:30 to 3:00pm
Venue: JAMPRO extended car park, next to JAMPRO building
Questions on patents, copyright, geographical indications will be answered, while registered trademark holders will display products, promote services and discuss the benefits IP has afforded them. Open to the Public.

Wednesday, April 25th
Event: Closed Seminar: "IP & MSME's" tailored to "Mogul in the Making" finalists
Time: 10:00 to 12:00pm
Venue: JIPO Boardroom

Thursday, April 26th WORLD IP DAY!!!
Event: Intellectual Property in the Digital Age (IP & IT Seminar)
Time: 9:30 to 11:30am
Venue: JAMPRO Training Room, 1st floor 18 Trafalgar Rd., Kgn 10
Coordinated with the assistance of Nunes, Scholefield and DeLeon this free to the public seminar will address intellectual property issues that arise from trading, communicating and collaborating on the Internet. Come hear insights from Sandor Panton, the Caribbean’s top domainer and a member of the CITO Board.

Event: i3 Competition Innovation Display
Time: 11:30 to 1:00pm
Venue: JAMPRO foyer
The Jamaica Business Lab's recent i3 Competition garnered 198 innovative entries (inventions and designs) from 46 Jamaican high schools.

Friday, April 27th
Event: JIPO in Montego Bay for a Day!
Time: 1:00 to 5:00pm
Venue: Sam Sharpe Square
In keeping with ongoing western outreach initiatives, our Kingston office will close and all members of staff will be in the Sam Sharpe Square answering any IP questions from the public and accepting trademark registration applications. Members of our indigenous Maroon and Rastafarian communities will be on hand to speak about Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions.