Editors’ Forum | Counterfeit concerns

Intellectual Property Week 2018 has just ended and the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) and the police Counter-Terrorism & Organised Crime Branch

(C-TOC) used the opportunity to remind Jamaicans about the dangers of counterfeit products and the possible harm that they could be doing to the country's reputation and to individuals.

Against that background, participants in a Gleaner Editors' Forum last Tuesday were asked:

Jamaicans should be concerned about intellectual property because?

"It is our bread and butter."- Lilyclaire Bellamy, executive director, JIPO

"There are serious health and economic implications as a result of counterfeit." - ACP Fitz Bailey, head of C-TOC

"It's a breach of the statute and we have a legal and moral obligation to police it." - ASP Victor Barrett, head of C-TOC's Intellectual Property Unit

"To protect the potential for our generations to come."

- Sara-Ruth Allen, attorney-at-law

"It is our competitive advantage."

- Stephen Davidson, director of marketing and public relations, JCDC

"It is the core of our creative industry."

- Miriam Hinds Smith, dean, School of Visual Arts, Edna Manley College of the Visual & Performing Arts