2007 Press Releases

World Intellectual Property Day - It's Everyone's Problem

Protecting Intellectual Property

May 4, 2007

Why should we care about protecting intellectual property?  At the dawn of the 21^st century, 70% of global economic output is generated by services, many of which depend on new and evolving technologies.  Global GDP grew twenty-fold in the last century – from $2 trillion to $41 trillion – and most of this increase was due to innovation.  In 2004, the World Economic Forum reported that the 20 countries perceived as having the most stringent intellectual property protection were among the top 27 countries in terms of economic growth competitiveness.  In contrast, the 20 countries perceived as having the weakest intellectual property protection were among the bottom 36 countries.

In a world where ideas form the common currency, intellectual property piracy erodes not only a country’s economy and but also its cultural identity.  Kaela Dick and Gabrielle Nichols, the Standard 4 students from Scarborough R.C.'s who won the 2007 Ambassador's Song and Verse Contest, stated it clearly when they said: "Today we have a pirate of another kind/The kind that plunders/The goods that come from other people's mind."  Every Trinbagonian has seen the pirated CDs and DVDs lining the stalls of street vendors.  The artistes that create the music receive no royalties from the sale of these pirated CDs.  If piracy continues unchecked, more and more artistes will be discouraged from creating the socas, rapsos and calypsos that are such an integral part of Trinidad and Tobago's culture, as Shadow and David Rudder were for the 2005 Carnival season.  In the end, all in Trinidad and Tobago lose when ideas are not protected from piracy through laws and the integrity of its citizens.

When intellectual property rights protections fail, the results can be deadly. During a meningitis epidemic in Niger in 1995, more than 50,000 people were inoculated with fake vaccines, resulting in 2,500 deaths. Thirty infants died in India in 1998 and 89 Haitian children died in 1995 from cough syrup prepared with a toxic chemical used in antifreeze. The 1989 crash of a Norwegian aircraft was blamed on a fake bolt in its assembly; fifty-five people died. 

“Intellectual property rights” is a fancy name for product accountability and the protection of human creativity.  It’s the legal mechanism – through copyright, patents and trademark – that ensures that the products we buy are genuine, and that someone else doesn’t take credit for our ideas.  Intellectual property rights don’t just protect inventors; they protect everyone whose safety depends on product reliability in every country in the world, including Trinidad and Tobago.

The protection of intellectual property rights enhances countries’ development, and promotes their business and artistic environments.   Such protections stimulate advances that benefit the entire world – in the form of technology, medicine and other processes.  Protecting intellectual property is crucial to protecting public health and safety in countries across the globe.

Copyright laws encourage the creation of literary works, computer programs, artistic works, and expressions of national culture.

Patent laws encourage the discovery of new and improved products and processes, while ensuring the freest possible public access to information regarding those new products and processes.

Trademark laws encourage the development and maintenance of high-quality products and services, and help companies promote customer loyalty.

Information and communications technologies, safe medicines, and the other innovations that form the backbone of today’s economy are only possible because of intellectual property rights.  The hopes we all have for a better future depend on those inventors and innovators who will make the world more bountiful – if their creative efforts and hard work are protected.