Three Decades of Intellectual Property Transformation in the Caribbean: Reflecting on the Road We’ve Travelled by Dianne Daley McClure

Three Decades of Intellectual Property Transformation in the Caribbean: Reflecting on the Road We’ve Travelled by Dianne Daley McClure

In The Caribbean IP Annual 2025, Dianne Daley McClure, Senior Partner at Foga Daley, shares a reflective and deeply personal account of the Caribbean’s intellectual property (IP) transformation over the last 30 years. As one of the region’s earliest champions of IP reform, she traces her journey from the founding days of Jamaica’s Copyright Unit to today’s harmonised legal frameworks and international treaty accessions.

From National Beginnings to Regional Reform

In 1995, the TRIPS Agreement forced Caribbean countries into the global IP spotlight. At that moment, McClure had just returned to Jamaica, becoming the first legal director of the country’s Copyright Unit. Her work quickly expanded beyond copyright to include industrial property, helping lay the groundwork for what would eventually become the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO)—a unified hub for managing copyright, trademarks, patents, and designs.

Caribbean Collaboration and the Role of WIPO

McClure outlines how regional cooperation, supported by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), helped Caribbean nations shift from fragmented administration to structured IP offices. She highlights the pivotal 1999 WIPO Ministerial Meeting in Jamaica and the formation of Caribbean Copyright Link (CCL), which united national CMOs and encouraged a coordinated approach to copyright management across the region. Milestones in Jamaica’s IP Landscape

Over three decades, Jamaica revamped its IP framework:

• Passed the Copyright Act of 1993

• Modernised the Trade Marks Act (1999–2001)

• Created the Patents and Designs Act (2020)

• Joined the Madrid Protocol (2022)

• Strengthened rights management through CMOs like JACAP, JAMCOPY, and JAMMS

The establishment of JIPO, which McClure helped coordinate, became a national milestone, bridging the gap between policy-making and private-sector practice.

Facing the Future: AI, Treaty Compliance, and Term Reforms

Despite the region’s significant progress, new challenges loom. Jamaica is now reassessing its 95-year copyright term and preparing for the implications of generative artificial intelligence on existing IP systems. With international treaties such as the PCT and Madrid Protocol in place, the focus now shifts to modernisation, enforcement, and supporting IP education across sectors.

Conclusion From early policy gaps to becoming a regional IP leader, Jamaica’s journey—reflected through Dianne Daley McClure’s career—is a testament to vision, perseverance, and collaboration. Her story underscores how the Caribbean has moved from reactive compliance to proactive reform. As the next decade ushers in complex legal and technological changes, McClure reminds us that Caribbean IP is no longer catching up—it’s stepping forward.

Read the full article in The Caribbean IP Annual 2025 to witness how decades of work have shaped today’s Caribbean IP identity.

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