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Foreigners exploit popularity of Jamaican brand
published: Friday | July 13, 2007
John Myers, Business Writer
The popularity of Jamaica as a brand in the international market has given rise to a number of products that are made elsewhere, using raw material sourced from foreign countries, but which lay claim to the name.
Currently on the market is a product called 'Jamaican Jerk Paste' made by a United States-based food company called Williams-Sonoma out of San Francisco, California.
The colourful label dotted with a few coconut trees promotes the product as a spicy Caribbean seasoning for grilling chicken and pork.
However, the product is made from a "hand-blended mix of premium Habanero pepper, Indonesian cinnamon and nutmeg and two varieties of all spice."
Its unclear how much of the raw material are sourced here. The product is available in overseas markets but has not been seen on Jamaican shelves.
Executive director of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), Carol Simpson, says for action to be taken it has to be proven that the product is not Jamaican, noting that this could be a difficult process.
The intellectual property laws do not allow the copyrighting of a country name.
"There would have to be some investigation," said Simpson. And it would be up to the industry affected to initiate action, she said.
Executive director of services at Jamaica Trade and Invest, Lisa Bell, said that as Brand Jamaica gains popularity, the agency was seeing the emergence of more foreign products bearing the island's name.
Copyrighting 'Jamaican'
"There is no stipulated legal recourse you can take unless you have registered the specific product," said Bell. The word 'Jamaican', she added, cannot be copyrighted.
To minimise copyright infringement and the counterfeiting of Jamaican products internationally, local companies are encouraged to register their trademarks and where necessary, diplomatic channels are used to get those selling non-genuine Jamaican products to cease.
Trademarks are registered by the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO).
"Locally its not that hard and our intellectual property office is sufficiently cognisant of the fact and are helping companies in that regard," Bell said of the process.
"In fact they have been having a series of workshops over the last year to raise the issue with Jamaican companies...but it is the registration overseas that can be prohibitive because of the cost."
It takes about US$120 to register a trademark in Jamaica, compared with US$375 in the United States.
General manager of the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA), Jean Smith acknowledged that the copying of Jamaican products as a longtime trend, but said unless the perpetrators were copying a product label or laying claim to a brand that does not belong to them, there was very little recourse.
"Unless they claim for example that the product originated in Jamaica, or is manufactured from Jamaican ingredients, you are not in a position to use any legal recourse available," she said.
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published: Friday | July 13, 2007
John Myers, Business Writer
The popularity of Jamaica as a brand in the international market has given rise to a number of products that are made elsewhere, using raw material sourced from foreign countries, but which lay claim to the name.
Currently on the market is a product called 'Jamaican Jerk Paste' made by a United States-based food company called Williams-Sonoma out of San Francisco, California.
The colourful label dotted with a few coconut trees promotes the product as a spicy Caribbean seasoning for grilling chicken and pork.
However, the product is made from a "hand-blended mix of premium Habanero pepper, Indonesian cinnamon and nutmeg and two varieties of all spice."
Its unclear how much of the raw material are sourced here. The product is available in overseas markets but has not been seen on Jamaican shelves.
Executive director of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), Carol Simpson, says for action to be taken it has to be proven that the product is not Jamaican, noting that this could be a difficult process.
The intellectual property laws do not allow the copyrighting of a country name.
"There would have to be some investigation," said Simpson. And it would be up to the industry affected to initiate action, she said.
Executive director of services at Jamaica Trade and Invest, Lisa Bell, said that as Brand Jamaica gains popularity, the agency was seeing the emergence of more foreign products bearing the island's name.
Copyrighting 'Jamaican'
"There is no stipulated legal recourse you can take unless you have registered the specific product," said Bell. The word 'Jamaican', she added, cannot be copyrighted.
To minimise copyright infringement and the counterfeiting of Jamaican products internationally, local companies are encouraged to register their trademarks and where necessary, diplomatic channels are used to get those selling non-genuine Jamaican products to cease.
Trademarks are registered by the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO).
"Locally its not that hard and our intellectual property office is sufficiently cognisant of the fact and are helping companies in that regard," Bell said of the process.
"In fact they have been having a series of workshops over the last year to raise the issue with Jamaican companies...but it is the registration overseas that can be prohibitive because of the cost."
It takes about US$120 to register a trademark in Jamaica, compared with US$375 in the United States.
General manager of the Jamaica Exporters Association (JEA), Jean Smith acknowledged that the copying of Jamaican products as a longtime trend, but said unless the perpetrators were copying a product label or laying claim to a brand that does not belong to them, there was very little recourse.
"Unless they claim for example that the product originated in Jamaica, or is manufactured from Jamaican ingredients, you are not in a position to use any legal recourse available," she said.
[email protected]
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