Jamaica – A Catalyst Journey in Protecting Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions

In 2012 the then Jamaican Ambassador to the UN and specialized agencies in Geneva chaired the WIPO Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). In 2022 the head of JIPO Chaired the same committee, prior to the successful conclusion of the diplomatic conference in May 2024 so it's fair to say that Jamaica recognises and values the importance of the intellectual property associated with genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore.

The knowledge of the subject matter in Jamaica is not limited and it is quite common if you have an ailment or challenges that someone will share a traditional remedy with you and for the challenge a Jamaican proverb, to understand how we arrived at that position we go back in history. The lowering of the Union Jack and the raising of the Jamaican flag at midnight Jamaica signaled to the world on August 6, 1962, that we were an independent nation, our motto “Out of many, one people” reflected the ethnic and cultural diversity of our people.

We are a relatively small and new office, in a nation that is in its sixth decade of existence, but as we would say in Jamaica “we likkle but we tallawah” (we are small but we are strong) epitomizes our response to most challenges which we see as opportunities, so Hurricane Melissa which has devastated the western end of the island on October 28, 2025, cannot quench our indomitable spirit as a mere two weeks after her passing some business that had been destroyed are back in operation. There are insurmountable obstacles, but we see each obstacle as an opportunity, an opportunity to grow, to transform and to evolve.

JIPO encapsulates this spirit and in our twenty-three years of existence we have shown that resilience. We have moved and transitioned from being an office focused exclusively on explaining intellectual property laws and working to have intellectual property laws passed, to recognizing and focusing on the transformative power of intellectual property laws and the work of the IGC resonated with our service delivery.

Our work in the area included a creative heritage project facilitated by WIPO which included training in photography and videography for members of the Rastafarian, Revival, and Maroon communities. The programme covered two phases, and included training in the area of film editing which built on phase one the actual training in videography. That training allowed members of the maroon community to film the historic annual Accompong Town Maroon Celebration. The use of technology provides these communities with opportunities in preserving, documenting and digitizing their culture.

By empowering the community to record its own traditions and creative expressions, the programme allows the community to create its own intellectual property, and this allows the communities to make informed decisions about how to manage their intellectual property assets in a way that corresponds with its values and development goals.

Our next step is amending our law to incorporate the provisions of the May 2024 WIPO Treaty.