Intellectual Property and Industry Competitiveness

BELTRAIDE, in partnership with the Belize Intellectual Property Office , Citrus Research and Education Institute of the Citrus Growers Association and World Intellectual Property Organization is hosting a three-day workshop called” Leveraging Intellectual Property Tools for Competitiveness.”   Over thirty private sector firms are learning how to use intellectual property to increase their competitiveness for success in the market place. Paul Regis of WIPO says the workshop helps businesses to see where their products are needed.

Paul Regis

Paul Regis, Programme Officer, Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, WIPO

“Showing how intellectual property can be leveraged and to capture value and what sort of business models will help them capture the best value for the type of intellectual property that they have actually chosen to leverage their products with.  This one today is going down the line of entrepreneurs, creators, private sector, plus academia, helping them to use intellectual property tools for capturing value and looking at leveraging their business. So, actually acting and doing outside of the box. How can intellectual property and the right business model get them to the right customers where the market actually needs their product.  It is important because you want to distinguish your product from others in the marketplace and the best way to do that is let’s say through a trademark, an entrepreneurial effort. In the case of copyright, that is automatic, so once it is your creation and you are the first person to express it, copyright is an automatic protection. Belize is party to the BERN Convention and there would be automatic copyright protection.  BELIPO is the regulatory body in charge of actually delivering intellectual property rights and it would be good for people to go there to find out what sort of protection is available for the type of creation that they have and how they could best protect it to cover their needs. So, a lot of intellectual property laws, I must say, do exist here. It is just, I guess, a lack of knowledge and awareness.”