City Research Online

Abstract

Jamaica enacted geographical indication ( GI) legislation in 2004, and amended it in 2018. This brought Jamaica’s law pertaining to GIs into full compliance with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ( TRIPS Agreement). However, to date, only two products have been registered nationally—‘Jamaica Jerk’ (2015) and ‘Jamaica rum’ GIs (2016), although many more Jamaican products are eligible to benefit from GI protection. This apparent underutilisation of the GI system raises two critical questions: (i) Whether the small number of GI registrations is due to a knowledge gap on the part of GI producers, and (ii) To what extent can the knowledge gap be attributed to an institutional gap due to inadequate technical and financial support from the Government of Jamaica to GI producers? A joint legal research project was undertaken by a Jamaican-United Kingdom (UK) team to explore this polemic. The team hypothesised that the likelihood was that both questions were answerable in the affirmative, and resolved to conduct case studies which would support, or refute this presumption. This article draws on the outcome of the interviews with local stakeholders (i.e. producers of cannabis, castor oil, coffee, honey, jerk, and rum) while the institutional stakeholders included the Jamaica Bureau of Standards, the Jamaican Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority and the Jamaican Intellectual Property Office ( JIPO) and sheds light on the knowledge and institutional gaps impacting GI stakeholders in Jamaica.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in European Intellectual Property Review following peer review. The definitive published version Bonadio, E. , Corthésy, N., Mimler, M. , Daley McClure, D., Williams, Y. & Deslandes, S. (2023). Maximising the benefits of origin products in an emerging economy - the impact of geographical indication protection in Jamaica. European Intellectual Property Review, 45(5), pp. 282-291. is available online on Westlaw UK.
Subjects:	F History United States, Canada, Latin America H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor K Law
Departments:	The City Law School > Academic Programmes

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