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NOTES ON THE ARGYLE AGREEMENT BETWEEN GUYANA   AND  VENEZUELA. DECEMBER 13, 2023. By Dr. Abiola Inniss    No. 8 of the agreement makes Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines ,   Rooseveldt Skerrit , and Brazil’s Ignacio Da Silva the substantive interlocutors in the border dispute and relegates the United Nations Secretary General to observer. NO MATTER WHO HOLDS THE OFFICE,it is the effective comptroller of the most powerful and effective internaional diplomatic organization in the world. The United Nations was created after the failed League of Nations following World War 2 for the purpose of instititionalizing diplomatic relations among nations.     Can these individuals who have temporary political office, and in the case of Gonsalves no real international diplomatic influence hold Venezuela to account?     HOW IS THIS A WIN FOR GUYANA ?           This agreement weakens the diplomatic leverage that Guyana held one day ago and places Venezuela where it wants to be
                                          Wither Caribbean Intellectual Property in 2023? BY Dr. Abiola Inniss Ph.D. LLM Executive Director CAAIPO                It seems endemic to Caribbean society that policy planning and execution in almost all spheres is based either on current needs arising from past partially resolved issues, or in pursuit of world trends such as technological developments which require regulatory coping strategies, especially in the areas of innovation and technology. It is not as common for governments in the region to create policies with the intention of stimulating technological innovation. Most of the time policy efforts are aimed at bolstering the efforts of small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) so that they might contribute to the GDP of the country through the creation of jobs and   perhaps with incentives where there are some elements of technological innovation present. These two approaches are quite different and not to be conflated on
  On cultural appropriation and Intellectual Property Rights in the Caribbean; How long can we shout strangers away from the yard?   By Dr. Abiola Inniss Ph.D. LLM                In recent weeks, and not for the first time, there has been a tremendous clamour over the issue of cultural appropriation. This time it was about the use of the word J’ouvert as the label for a rum product to be produced by the well-known American actor Michael B Jordan. In 2019 there was the matter of Kanye West using National emblems of Jamaica on merchandise that he was marketing in promotion of his church services. In both situations public condemnation and in the Kanye West case intervention by the Government of Jamaica resulted in the reversal of the decisions to use the identified term J’ouvert and logos for personal gain by these artistes.               In some ways it is heartening that Caribbean voices are being raised in objection to the appropriation of cultural emblems, words, phrases, a
        Notes on Intellectual Property Rights and Jamaica’s National Emblems; The Kanye West incident.   By Dr Abiola Inniss Ph.D. LLM                        Recently, the question of Intellectual Property Rights arose in the Kanye West and the Government of Jamaica saga. West and his group had gone to Jamaica to hold a series of church service/ concert events and had produced merchandise which combined his business interests and the use of the Jamaican Coat of Arms. After the concert the West team proceeded to advertise the merchandise for sale on his Sunday service website which was met by the disapprobation of the government of Jamaica which requested that he cease the use and sale of merchandise carrying the National symbols since he did not have permission to do so, he complied.               The aftermath of these events saw a brief flurry of activity in which the public interest was engaged on the issue of the use of national symbols and the intellectual property ri

Caribbean Intellectual Property Law and Policy: The Civil and Common Law Caribbean -BOOK 2019

Caribbean Intellectual Property Law and Policy: The Civil and Common Law Caribbean.  BOOK By Dr. Abiola Inniss The book examines aspects of intellectual property law and policy in the Caribbean, including a comparative analysis of the English speaking common law system, the Dutch, French and Spanish civil law systems of Suriname, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. It will detail the foundations of the local law and policy, and examine international conventions and their influence upon the laws and policies. This book will discuss the theoretical foundations of Caribbean Intellectual Property and provide a comprehensive overview of areas such as traditional knowledge, patents, copyright, trademarks and industrial design. The aim of the book is to make a significant contribution to the body of knowledge on Intellectual Property in the Caribbean region. There is currently no book of this kind on the subject. In this age of the digital economy and attached requisites in intellectua

Notes on developing a strategic Intellectual Property Plan for Guyana

                             By Dr. Abiola Inniss    Ph.D.   LLM                           Between the years 2013-2017, I conducted a study which investigated how intellectual property law and public policies in the four largest Caricom economies (Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, and Jamaica) affected the choices made by firms about innovation and technology. The results were validated by a team of peer reviewers. The findings were interesting and even startling, because they revealed that innovation in firms of medium and large size across these sample countries, except one, were reluctant to invest in innovations and accompanying technologies, even where there was more focus on intellectual property rights (IPRs), laws and policies. In the case of Guyana, there are no visible policies on IPRs, the laws are outdated, and there is minimal enforcement, nevertheless it is in this country that the highest levels of endogenous innovations exist. There can be no sou

Forthcoming Book 2019, "Caribbean Intellectual Property Law and Policy; the Civil and Common Law Caribbean

By Dr. Abiola Inniss Ph;D; LLM The book examines aspects of intellectual property law and policy in the Caribbean, including a comparative analysis of the English speaking common law system, the Dutch, French and Spanish civil law systems of Suriname, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. It will detail the foundations of the local law and policy, and examine international conventions and their influence upon the laws and policies. This book will discuss the theoretical foundations of Caribbean Intellectual Property and provide a comprehensive overview of areas such as traditional knowledge, patents, copyright, trademarks and industrial design. The aim of the book is to make a significant contribution to the body of knowledge on Intellectual Property in the Caribbean region. There is currently no book of this kind on the subject. In this age of the digital economy and attached requisites in intellectual property, there is need for greater knowledge of how the IP system operates