Intangibles count

A top  official of the World Intellectual property Organisation (WIPO) says local companies must take the time to find out about how intellectual property (IP) can boost their cash flow and enhance their bottom line. In an interview at Intellectual Property Office (IPO) on South Quay, Port-of-Spain, Paul Regis, Assistant Programme Officer, Intellectual Property and Economic Development Department, said WIPO member states, including Trinidad and Tobago, needed to leverage intellectual property for economic development. “A lot of companies here might have intellectual property and not know it,” he said.  Intellectual property is an intangible asset and can be developed, owned and managed to create economic returns, Regis added. Another senior IPO officer said research showed that companies here don’t understand the worth of IP and how critical it was to introduce it into their  business plans. In a recent visit to the country, Regis held meetings with Legal Affairs Minister Danny Montano, members of the Chamber of Commerce, officials from the local IPO office and the University of Trinidad and Tobago. 

Regis said intellectual property was not just about copyrights and patents but also about trademarks, trade secrets and geographical indicators. On the recent controversy that has engulfed the pan fraternity over the granting of copyright the cycle of fifths steelpan which, for years was made here, Regis said it was obvious that the steelpan was not protected. He said it was getting to the point where the steelpan was no longer novel.   “If it is not property catalogued and  published, then it is not helping anybody in TT,” he said of the steel pan. What he did know, he said, was that the steelpan originated from TT. Pan Trinbago has since taken legal action to revoke the copyright. Citing the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee as an example of geographical indication, Regis said Jamaica had taken steps to try and stop India from using the term “Blue Mountain coffee.” He also pointed to the Coca-Cola trademark, noting that it was used to optimise market share and returns. The shape of the bottle is protected by industrial design.

It also fall under the trade secret umbrella (the ingredients are known to a few) and the Coca-Cola sign is also distinct. Along similar lines and just as lucrative is Angostura Bitters, which he described as a trade secret. Angostura communication boss Giselle La Ronde-West said the company had to take action against companies that tried to use the name of Angostura Bitters to sell their own concoction. “We had to take legal action against them,” she said. Richard Aching of the local IPO office said companies should document the innovations made in their manufacturing processes. He said if they don’t file for formal protection and somebody else does, “you could be locked out of your own work.” “Intellectual property gives the owner strong rights,” he said, stressing that local companies should pay attention to what they were  inventing.

The question that the business community should be asking is, “How can I leverage the access to new markets using the technology that is available?” he said. “Many local companies are sitting on a gold mine and don’t know it,” he said. He also noted that businessmen were unaware of the free technology that was available out there to solve many of their problems. Of the 200,000 applications filed annually, Aching said once it is not filed in TT, then it is freely available on the international intellectual property database. This is how Cuba gets around to using the technology, he added. The country buys the patent documents and makes everything from scratch, he explained. Regis said businessmen should consider how they could benefit from using intellectual property to make money. He suggested, for instance, using legally binding contracts under which royalties can be generated from intellectual property. His own view is that people needed to be educated about intellectual property and their commercial applications.