Barbados’ government has formulated a national intellectual property strategic plan, it said this week.

The plan, which is being developed with the assistance of the World Intellectual Property Organization, aims to make the country’s economy “more competitive globally,” the government said.

According to Heather Clarke, registrar of Barbados’ Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office, “such competitiveness could only be achieved through creativity, productivity and innovation in the economic, cultural and social sectors.”

She said that the country’s government had already implemented several initiatives for the development and “repositioning” of the cultural industries as a viable and sustainable sector of the economy.

These kinds of steps are crucial in an global IP environment that has seen significant changes and developments over the last 10 to 15 years.

“Such support was evidenced by policy changes, the provision of grants, incentives, the provision of funding for cultural projects and cultural entertainment, duty free concessions as well as the provision of grants for our creative and cultural practitioners,” she said. “Support for these initiatives can be found in the enabling legislation, the Cultural Industries Development Act of 2013 and work is ongoing for the establishment of an Authority to sustain, regulate and facilitate the development of our cultural industries.”

Indeed, Barbados broke serious ground in the region with its bill, something that several other countries in the region have been looking to replicate.

Most recently, St Lucia said it was planning to enact a similar bill.