WIPO Director General commends JBDC’s incubator model during Jamaica visit

Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Daren Tang, has commended the Jamaica Business Development Corporation’s (JBDC) Incubator & Resource Centre (IRC), describing the facility as a unique model for entrepreneurship development that could be strengthened further through intellectual property support.

Tang made the remarks during a tour of the JBDC’s Incubator & Resource Centre in Kingston, where he was accompanied by Acting Chief Executive Officer of the JBDC, Harold Davis, and Executive Director of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), Lilyclaire Bellamy. The visit formed part of his official mission to Jamaica following the country’s observance of World Intellectual Property Day on April 26 and a week of activities led by JIPO.

Speaking during the visit, Tang said Jamaica’s entrepreneurial support ecosystem demonstrated a forward-looking approach to business development.

“So it’s been a real pleasure to understand Jamaica a bit better. But I think really what I’m seeing is that Jamaica is not looking to the past but looking to the future. So here, your JBDC has been a unique model where you not just teach people skills, artisanal skills, but you also help them to be successful entrepreneurs,” said Tang.

He noted that intellectual property has an important role to play in helping entrepreneurs move from concept to market, particularly in areas such as branding, design, storytelling and product innovation.

Tang said entrepreneurs building brands must be equipped to protect and commercialise their ideas through trademarks, industrial designs, copyrights and patents where applicable.

“What we’re going to do with the team here is to see how the intellectual property part of the journey of these entrepreneurs can be. Because if they’re going to be branding and marketing, they need to take out their trademarks. If they’re going to be packaging their products, their designs, if they’re going to be telling stories about their journey or creating something unusual, it’s going to be their copyrights, maybe even their patents,” he said.

The WIPO Director General also praised the IRC’s practical model, which combines access to technical production facilities with entrepreneurship development support, allowing small businesses to test and develop products without the heavy capital investment often required in the early stages.

“I love it because it’s not common in the world. You don’t often get a resource centre that focuses on skills and artisanal skills and yet teaches entrepreneurship. The equipment you have allows these people to start playing with higher-level skills without having to invest huge amounts of capital, which is not possible for them because they’re just starting on their journey,” Tang said.

He added that integrating intellectual property education into that ecosystem would help entrepreneurs not only protect their creations but also unlock greater commercial value.

“And like I say, intellectual property is going to be very important for this, not just to protect, but to commercialise and monetise their brands,” he added.

The JBDC’s Incubator & Resource Centre provides shared production facilities, technical support and business development services for entrepreneurs, supporting the JBDC’s mandate to drive sustainable MSME development in Jamaica.

Housed at Unit 10a at 76 Marcus Garvey Drive, are four incubators – Fashion, Essential oils, Agro-processing and Craft Incubator. The space provides entrepreneurs with a facility to build out their concepts into products on a commercial scale.