Intellectual Property Protection for Brand Jamaica's Creative Industries

Abstract

Since the last decade, strategies employed by governments to manage their country brands have evolved beyond tourism marketing techniques. It is quite commonplace now for most governments to hire marketing specialists to design and implement county brand campaigns and policies to promote country brands globally to attract foreign direct investment into that country. Whether it is the arts-based “creative industry” or an “enterprise culture”, these features have evolved to become the drivers of profit in global markets, and give each nation a “competitive edge” over other nations in regards to their national brand. Country brand management is integral for the successful development of industry sectors and is also dependent on good country image. For Brand Jamaica one such industry is the creative industries sector. Brand Jamaica’s creative industries are mostly comprised of the branded tourism accommodations, atmosphere, heritage and culture as well as the indigenous music and recordings of local artistes and singers. For the development of this sector which currently contributes to Jamaica GDP it is interpreted that enforced intellectual property will play a key role especially in the promoting of the brand online. Good management of country brands creative industries involves good business acumen on protecting and developing that sector as it is vital towards translating the intangible wealth of developing countries into economic growth. Enforced intellectual property protection for Brand Jamaica’s music, arts, theatrical productions and creative expressions ultimately lessen the occurrence of infringements of the brand’s assets, piracy and production of counterfeit goods and services produces, while creating future possibilities in cyberspace. Purpose – as a source of unlimited supply of intellectual property, Brand Jamaica requires formal management of those assets especially in the creative industries sector that the brand is globally known for. This research seeks to uncover the extent to which intellectual property protection is important for the social and economic development of Brand Jamaica’s creative industries. Design/methodology/approach – first, it presents a theoretical analysis of scientific literature and monographs on good country brand management and country brand property, as well as the objects of intellectual property that are applicable to good country brand management pursuant to the research. Secondly, the official web page of the World Intellectual Property Office comprising many articles regarding the Economics of Intellectual Property was referenced for this research. New data from survey questionnaires are presented and will test the hypotheses raised. The hypotheses raised explore the influencers that create value for country brands with strong intellectual property rights legislation. From that perception, two hypotheses are made: H1: Trademarks, industrial designs, copyrights and other objects of intellectual property protect Brand Jamaica. H2: Trademarks, industrial designs, copyrights and other objects of intellectual property protection create value for Brand Jamaica. Findings – enforced intellectual property rights indeed create possibilities for country brands, such as Brand Jamaica. This protection is enormous, especially in cyberspace as a branded e-commerce website portal. A branded website portal is ideal for online forums and building brand awareness necessary for its promotion. The findings further indicate that there is a direct relationship between country brand value and intellectual property protection. Research Limitations/Implications – current intellectual property protection is not actively enforced for Brand Jamaica since the right to copyright and trademark the brand by its governing state Jamaica, are withheld by the Paris Convention; as a result the resources needed to protect brand Jamaica against infringement are absent, and consequently the exploitation of the brand’s intellectual property continues. Practical Implications – strong intellectual property protection that generates equity for country brands is the main implication, although the extent to which Brand Jamaica is managed cannot be compared with other country brands of developed countries, where country brand management is undertaken at the national level. Originality/Value – the work is useful for developing countries’ country brand managers faced with the task of marketing country brands without enforced intellectual property legislation and assessing those country brands in order to manage them effectively. Research Type: Research paper, case study, opinion view.