Deputy Speaker,
Today, I rise to my feet in this Honourable House, on behalf of the beautiful and resilient people of the Exumas and Ragged Island Constituency in support of this compendium of bills to reform, strengthen, and modernise our national approach to protecting Intellectual Property and providing modern, efficient Registrar services for companies and individuals.
Once debated, passed, and implemented, this compendium will equip The Bahamas with a competitive Intellectual Property Framework, allowing us to stand side-by-side with any of our regional and international peers as a country where the intellectual output of creators is respected and protected.
The compendium includes:
- Patent Bill 2024
- Copyright Bill 2024
- Trademark Bill 2024
- Registrar of Records Bill 2024
- Registrar of Companies Bill 2024
These bills will be transformative and have been called for for decades.
In simple terms, the work of creatives like musicians, authors, visual artist, photographers, filmmakers, playwrights, content creators as well as Research and Technology etc will be better protected.
We will also now have two digitally equipped, standalone Companies and Records Registrars that will better meet the needs of the general public.
IP Reforms
Of course, as a member of the local business community, I am personally excited about the prospect of finally having a comprehensive IP framework in place to protect the brands and ideas of the many innovative entrepreneurs and creatives within our economy.
As a friend of the Creative Entrepreneurship and the Orange Economy I am delighted to be able to lead this debate.
For many years, we lived in a sad reality in which more Bahamians sought to file copyrights, patents, and trademarks in other jurisdictions rather than subject themselves to the inadequate protections offered by our current regime.
These Bills will stem this tide.
The fact is that any country serious about competing for investors and talent on the world stage must have a robust IP Framework in place. This administration recognised this fact from day one. In fact, we recognised it even before day one.
In our Blueprint for Change, we pledged to incentivise creatives to obtain intellectual property protections for their creations, which would give them a stronger position for international negotiations.
A key precursor to getting more Bahamians to protect their intellectual property, both locally and internationally, was to, first of all, bring our IP laws up to an international standard.
As the Minister responsible for Investments, I cannot stress enough the significance of this moment for the strengthening of our investment framework.
Through these proposed amendments, we will make our jurisdiction more appealing for both domestic and foreign direct investments.
Any businessperson, whether they are a Bahamian or international investor, wants to ensure that their brand, products, and innovative ideas are protected. That’s why so many of our citizens seek IP protections abroad.
For any investors with particularly novel or innovative concepts to which IP laws may apply, basing their enterprises in a jurisdiction with outdated and inadequate IP protections can be a major deal breaker.
The truth is: considering how critical IP laws are to economic development and business growth, we should have never allowed our laws to become outdated.
We are a financial services leader. We are a tourism mecca. And over the past three years, due to the efforts of this administration, we have become one of the regional hotspots for major investments. It was past time for our IP framework to be transformed.
Fortunately, after many, many years of industry observers calling for change, an administration is finally in place that has done the necessary work to bring our IP laws fully into the 21st century.
This PLP administration holds an inherent belief in the economic empowerment of Bahamians. This empowerment will be achieved through widespread, sustainable growth felt at all levels of our society. In providing a modern framework for the protection of intellectual property, we are extending protections to Bahamians from shady business practices and copycat IP infringements both here and abroad.
This means if a young man or woman living in Georgetown, Mangrove Cay; Freeport, or Bain Town, writes a song, launches an innovative brand, or comes up with a new invention and they go through the necessary IP protection process, they will be afforded the same protections under law as a multinational corporation. That is truly powerful. It is the essence of what the protection of intellectual property is all about.
And it’s also what this PLP is government is all about. We know that we can’t build a fairer and more prosperous economy at all levels without ensuring that everyone is protected and empowered. IP protections are an important part of our equation for a better Bahamas.
Deputy Speaker,
Looking ahead, we see this IP reform process as a key step in unlocking our potential for creativity and innovation at a time when it is needed most.
The world is undergoing a period of rapid change fuelled by technological advancement. In coming years, we will need to be more innovative than ever as we seek to find our place in an increasingly digital and STEM-based global economy, while addressing our domestic economic and social challenges and also developing homegrown solutions to the existential threat of climate change.
The Bills before us today will lay the foundation for the protection of the creative output of local individuals and entities while encouraging fair competition as our entrepreneurs and creatives pave the way forward to the new Bahamian economy.
These Bills modernise our approach to addressing copyright, trademark, and patent protections, including areas like geographical indications, false trade descriptions, and new plant varieties.
Currently, our framework is non-compliant with CARIFORUM-EU EPA and WTO guidelines.
At the end of this process, our IP laws will be fully compatible with the highest international standards.
A big part of this reform process will be the law’s recognition of a number of international conventions and treaties that The Bahamas will now join and sign on to. Joining these conventions will be done using a phased approach to ensure that we can implement these standards effectively and also ensure full compliance with the commitments we are making each step of the way. Currently, we have targeted 11 new international conventions that we will join as a part of this process.
The six initial agreements we are pursuing include:
– The Patent Cooperation Treaty
– The Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks;
– The Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks;
– The Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks;
– The Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations; and
– The World Intellectual Property Organization’s Copyright Treaty.
Of course, simply changing the law and signing agreements does not complete the process of modernising our IP framework. While the legislative changes will strengthen and modernise our laws and indicate our willingness to comply with international standards, there is deeper work that must be done locally to ensure compliance.
We must fix our slow and ineffective systems and ensure that these systems are properly equipped, resourced, and capable of interfacing with global systems.
Right now, it is more difficult and time consuming to file for IP protections here at home than it is to file abroad. Given the current inefficiency and ineffectiveness, it is completely understandable why so many Bahamians go abroad to apply for IP protections.
We absolutely must make it easy for innovators and creatives to protect their ideas and creations here at home. These individuals are the ones with the ideas that will grow our economy and diversify it for resilience and 21st-century success.
Instead of being an inconvenience, our systems should be a source of empowerment. At the very least, we must ensure that the length of time it takes to receive IP protections in The Bahamas is comparable to the world’s best jurisdictions.
Deputy Speaker,
One of the ways we have sought to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the administration of intellectual property rights is through the launch of a dedicated Intellectual Property Office.
This requires separating this function from the Registrar General’s Office to introduce a standalone IP Office.
This is the international standard, and it will now be our standard as well. Along with establishing our own IP office, we will partner with the United Nation’s World Intellectual Property Organization (also known as WIPO) to integrate our systems with their online IP application and filreal-timeorm for real time protection.
Under the current manual-based system, there are unavoidable delays in filing and with detecting infringements on IPs. Going fully digital and integrating our system will make these delays a thing of the past, and those who file for IP protections in The Bahamas will have real-time international protection.
Guiding all of this work will be a National Intellectual Property Strategy that will map out the steps we need to take over the next few years to meet our goals.
Deputy Speaker, we are committed to ensuring that this office takes an active role in the education process to ensure the fullest understanding of these laws by stakeholders in the government, the private sector and by the public at large. We will ensure there are public service announcements for example, to ensure that people understand what infractions and infringements under these laws are.
This strategy, as well as the Bills before us today, and any upcoming changes in policies and regulations, is not just the product of our best and brightest IP minds within the government, it is also the product of widespread public consultation with all relevant stakeholders, as well the input of agencies like CarIPI and WIPO.
The formal process for public consultation began in December of last year and ended in March of this year, providing a lengthy window of time in which stakeholders were able to review the bills and make any relevant suggestions.
Moving forward, we will continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure that our IP framework evolves with the times.
We believe this legislation represents a turning point in which a newly independent IP Office, supported by an updated, effective framework and modern, efficient systems, will see the vast majority of locals filing for protections here at home. It will also attract those from other countries who see the protections offered by The Bahamas’ framework as superior to what is offered in their own countries, as well as those who want to ensure that their IPs are protected in The Bahamas. Eventually, we anticipate that the IP Office will no longer be an expense for the government. Instead, it will become a self-sufficient revenue generator due to the fees collected from the influx of activity.
I am certain there are thousands of Bahamian entrepreneurs, inventors, innovators, artists, musicians, writers, and other creatives who are thrilled at the prospect of having better protections at home and abroad, as well as easier access to those protections. For the first time ever, writers, producers, musicians, artists, and others who put their creative input into projects will be able to receive royalties from those who make use of their intellectual property.
The Bahamas will be a natural fit for technology companies, including fintech companies with proprietary technologies.
This will be a shot in the arm to our Innovate242 Initiative that I am sure the Member for Pineridge will speak to.
Likewise, our ability to attract more entities to the Bahamas as a center for Innovation, Research and Development.
Likewise, inventors who we will accommodate in our incubation centers can feel more confident that their work will be protected.
These Bill are transformative and will truly create new Vistas for Bahamians.
This is what we meant in our Blueprint for Change when we talk about Revolutionising.
Junkanooers will be able to protect their iconic patterns and designs. Manufacturers creating products with specific formulas made from local crops like cascarilla bark and cerasee will be able to protect those products. The same goes for local jam, jelly, and hot sauce creators, local salt production techniques, and iconic local brands.
We’d like to create a future where we make the term “Made in The Bahamas” a global brand representing high-quality and specialised cultural and indigenous products that truly represent our strengths as a nation in the same way that “Made in the USA” or “Made in China” are recognisable all over the world.
Deputy Speaker,
The Patents Bill (2024) seeks to repeal and replace the Patent Act, 2015, to improve the legislative framework related to the grant and administration of patents.
Patents are the exclusive rights granted to an inventor of a product or process that introduces a useful and novel way of doing something or solving a problem.
Under the current regime, there is an identified need for a more effective means of monitoring and addressing infringements. There is also a need to join the Paris Convention to provide protections related to business processes, production methods, and other forms of inventions.
Sectors like hurricane shutter manufacturing, salt extraction and manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, electronics manufacturing, alcohol production, straw harvesting and production, art production and creation, and the production of junkanoo products have been identified as key beneficiaries of these changes.
While much of the provisions in the 2015 Act remain in place, new provisions have been added to the 2024 Bill to:
– Establish the office of the Registrar of the Intellectual Property Office and define its powers and functions;
– Clarify the circumstances in which an invention will not meet the requirements for patentability or is otherwise ineligible for policy reasons;
– Enable the owner of a patent to request the Comptroller of Customs to treat imports as prohibited goods; and
– Make provisions for the local application of the Budapest Treaty as The Bahamas signs onto this treaty in the near future.
Next, we have the Copyright Bill (2024), which repeals and replaces the Copyright Act (Ch. 323). Once again, while many of the provisions of the existing Act remain unchanged, this Bill introduces several key changes and additions.
These amendments were borne from the recognition of the need to improve Copyright protections for creatives in the local Orange Economy.
Most significantly, this bill will allow for the Bahamas to accede to the Rome Convention and become party to the WIPO Copyright Treaty, which provides broad IP protections to creatives.
This is great news to any authors, playwrights, and other creative writers, visual and music artists, actors, publishers, and broadcasting organisations.
The Bill includes new provisions to:
– Recognise the Registrar of the Intellectual Property Office;
– And make provisions for the Paris Convention, WIPO Copyright Treaty, Rome Convention and any other international treaties The Bahamas may sign on to, including ensuring application of protections to industrial designs, which the bills defines as “features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament of an article or features of pattern or ornament applicable to articles in so far as such features appeal to and are judged on their aesthetic value. There is also the introduction of a new Part XI in this Bill that specifically addresses industrial design protections and infringements;
– The Copyright Bill provides for the rights of an owner of a copyright to apply to the Court for appropriate measures when an infringement takes place; and
– It also clarifies the circumstances in which a performer’s rights will be infringed.
Deputy Speaker,
The third Bill before us today is the Trade Marks Bill (2024). This applies to any “sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises.” Essentially, this refers to the distinctive brands, logos, slogans, and other recognisable features that distinguish one business or organisation from the other.
This is critical for all Bahamian-made products sold locally and abroad, as well as service providers and other organizations with distinctive and recognisable brands.
This bill will support broad protections of trademarks and pave the way for accesses to the Madrid, Vienna, and Singapore treaties. Any business owner who wants to protect their brand will benefit from this reform.
The Trademark Bill modernises and strengthens our laws in a few key ways.
– For example, it now reflects the contemporary usage of the word “sign” in trademark law. All instances of the word “mark” have been removed and replaced with the word “sign” to align with the modern understanding of a trademark as a sign that denotes origin.
– The Bill also protects trademarks of government agencies; and
– It also gives courts the power to order relevant information related to trademark infringements and such infringements will be actionable before the courts.
Most importantly, this is just the beginning, Deputy Speaker. There are more IP Bill and regulations on the way that will further develop our IP framework.
Registrar General Reforms
In addition to the three IP-specific bills, we also have two additional Bills related to reforms of the Registrar General’s department. The Registrar General’s Department has needed to be updated for quite some time. Any Bahamian who has had to wait on long lines for a birth certificate or go through the process to obtain a marriage certificate knows just how badly modernisation was needed.
We recently launched the Corporate Administrative Registry Services platform, which is a fully digital corporate registry platform allowing users to incorporate new companies, file corporate documents, pay annual fees, and obtain certified copies of corporate documents – all from the comfort of their homes or offices. This added convenience and efficiency is critical to the ease of doing business.
We are also investing in similar conveniences for the Bahamin public so that all Registrar services can be accessed in the same way.
Most importantly, we are investing in reliable technology that works consistently and efficiently. We all know the stories in various organizations of new systems coming into place only for staff to be improperly trained or for there to be glitches that lead to incomplete processes, errors, and even more running around and frustrated calls than when the manual system was in place.
We are ensuring that this new system is implemented in the right way.
Prior to launch, financial corporate service providers pilot-tested the C.A.R.S. platform to ensure a satisfactory user experience. We are getting very positive reviews thanks to the proactive work of our Registrar General, Camille Gomez-Jones, and her team.
We are now expediting the digitalisation of a Civil Registry. This includes a fully digitised Civil Registry Services Platform, allowing users to obtain certified copies of birth, death, and marriage records, as well as other recorded documents, without the need to visit the Registrar General’s Department in person. This new civil registry will be launched before the end of this calendar year.
Through these initiatives, we are addressing very vexing and frustrating issues that Bahamians have complained about for decades, Deputy Speaker. And they are finally being fixed by this administration.
As a part of this modernisation effort, we will also make preparations to launch a movable assets and collateral registry that will revolutionise access to capital for small and medium-sized businesses, unlocking entrepreneurial success for Bahamians.
Of course, upgrading systems is a great achievement but we must not fail to modernise our agencies and institutions that house these systems to maximise the efficiency and productivity gains.
The two additional bills before us today, the Registrar of Records Bill (2024) and the Registrar of Companies Bill (2024) will facilitate the splitting of the Registrar General into a Registrar of Companies and a Registrar of Records. This split will expedite the reforms we are working on, ensuring that there are specialised staff and resources to perform these two distinct functions.
This transformation will bring about an unprecedented improvement in service delivery, setting a new standard for our country.
The Registrar of Records Bill allows for the appointment of a Registrar of Records, amending all references to the Registrar General in relevant law, and outlining the responsibilities related to births, deaths, marriages, and the administration of deeds, documents and records. The qualifications are also outlined with one notable change being that the Registrar of Records is not required to be an attorney, but can be someone with years of experience in finance, accounting, business, or corporate management and administration.
The Bill also allows for the appointment of Deputy Registrars and Assistant Registrars and outlines their duties and functions. Through this Bill, the power, authority, jurisdiction, rights, privileges, duties and liabilities of the Registrar General will now be vested in the Registrar of Records, including the granting of the power to administer oaths and take solemn declarations or affirmations.
The second related Bill, the Registrar of Companies Bill, as its name suggests, establishes a Registrar of Companies. The responsibilities of this Registrar of Companies are outlined, which include the incorporation, formation, control, and management of legal entities.
Similar qualifications are outlined as stipulated for the Registrar of Records, with experience in law, finance, accounting, business, or corporate management and administration satisfying the requirements. The various Deputy and Assistant Registrar of Companies positions are created, as well as the vesting of the power of the Registrar General into this new position.
This is major news for every Bahamian and every company registered in The Bahamas. We all make use of registry services. And we finally have a modern structure that will facilitate improved experiences at our two new Registrars.
Additionally, it should be noted that the Land Adjudication Bill and Land Registration Bill have been put forward for public consultation. These bills will establish the framework for the creation of a land registry run by a stand-alone Land Registrar. We aim to pass this legislation in the fall and have active land adjudication panels processing titles by the beginning of 2025.
So, today, we have before us the reform of our IP framework, the reform of the duties of the Registrar General’s Office and the establishment of two new registrars – one for Records and one for Companies. And in the near future we will bring the much-needed land registry reforms to this House.
We are on a roll, Deputy Speaker.
We are moving carefully but deliberately to solve the biggest and most long-standing challenges within the government and within this nation.
Conclusion
Deputy Speaker,
Today is a win for the local Orange Economy, a win for all creatives, musicians, and artists, a win for the business community, and a win for all people in our nation.
Our local artists and musicians have been calling for a stronger IP framework for years and we are now delivering this much needed change on their behalf.
Companies have been calling for faster registrar services, and we are delivering that.
And people have been begging for the Registrar services to be improved and, yes, we are delivering that, too.
This work has been thorough and comprehensive.
I’d like to thank our Honourable Attorney General and his team at the AG’s office, our Registrar General and her team, and all other stakeholders who had a hand in bringing us to this point.
This major step forward is merely one of many exciting developments as we realise the promises made in our Blueprint for Change.
We are revolutionizing, just like we promised we would do in our Blueprint for Change:
Just like we have done:
- Tourism Development Fund
- Longevity and Regenerative Act
- The Cannabis Bills
- Now this Intellectual Property compendium
- As we foreshadow, we will do with the new Land Adjudication Bill which will establish the land registry.
This is the type of work we do!
This is what transformative governance looks like!
It is always a beautiful thing to see your plans transform from paper to real life – to see a structure that existed as a blueprint in your visions now made real. This administration is delivering on so many fronts to build the country that the Bahamian people deserve – the better Bahamas promised by our New Day agenda.
This is what a New Day looks like!
We still have a lot of work to do, but it is clear that this country is moving in the right direction.
The Patent Bill, Copyright Bill, Trade Mark Bill, Registrar of Records Bill, and Registrar of Companies Bill all represent important progress for our economic development.
This compendium has my full support, Deputy Speaker. I look forward to seeing the progress ushered into this nation as we continue to move this country forward.
I so move Deputy Speaker!
May God Bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
