The Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (CAIPO) will collaboratively hold a Regional Workshop on Intellectual Property Empowerment for Designers and Artists.
It will take place on Tuesday, October 29, and Wednesday, October 30, at the BIDC’s Harbour Industrial Estate, Building Number 2.
This two-day workshop has been structured to cover invaluable tools, topics and challenges specific to creative industry professionals.
Experts will address Intellectual Property (IP) definitions and issues; host discussions specific to the design and art arenas; and will share information on how to leverage and protect one’s IP when exporting or operating in the global market.
Additionally, there will be case studies and panel discussions featuring designers, their success stories and regional design initiatives.
The workshop will also include discussions and presentations exploring the relationships between gender, IP and design, providing guidance on how to engage and empower women in design through IP.
Local, regional and international speakers have been selected, including female fashion designer and entrepreneur Meiling Esau, the tour de force behind the premier Caribbean fashion house, Meiling; Carol Simpson who heads the Caribbean Section of the Regional Bureau at WIPO and is responsible for leading the development, implementation and evaluation of programmes and activities designed to enhance and promote IP development in the Caribbean region; and Dr. Thomas J. Farkas, a Principal Associate at Eversheds Sutherland in Munich, with many years of experience in contentious and non-contentious trademark, design and copyright matters, unfair competition law, trade secrets and know-how, regulatory law, and drafting and negotiating all types of intellectual property agreements.
Intellectual property is a complex asset with uses and implications that vary from sector to sector. The IP Empowerment Workshop for Designers and Artists is geared towards empowering designers, artists and other creative entrepreneurs with knowledge of intellectual property, relevant to their specialization, so that they can leverage their creativity and appropriately protected IP to compete locally and internationally.
This collaboration, which supports the BIDC’s goals to develop internationally competitive businesses, and foster a dynamic and sustainable export sector, is part of the Corporation’s national effort to enhance Barbados’ innovation profile.
For further details and to register for the Intellectual Property Empowerment Workshop for Designers and Artists, persons may email bidc@bidc.org or staitt@bidc.org.