US officials engage AG on intellectual property landscape in Guyana

The content originally appeared on: INews Guyana

Anil Nandlall SC MP, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs yesterday met with representatives of the United States & Foreign Commercial Service of Guyana along with representatives from their sister agency, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at the Attorney General’s Chambers, Carmichael Street, Georgetown.

The Attorney General was accompanied by Mr. Reza Manraj, Registrar of Commerce of the Deeds and Commercial Registries Authority.

Present at the meeting were Mr. David Kellis, Regional Intellectual Property Attaché for Mercosur, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname U.S. Patent and Trademark Office/U.S. Commercial Service, Ms. Maria Beatriz Dellore, Regional Intellectual Property Advisor for Mercosur, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname, Mr. Daniel Gaines, Senior Commercial Officer U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, Guyana and Ms. Tocoma Alexis, Commercial Assistant – Budget Analyst U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, Guyana.

The USPTO is the federal agency for granting U.S. Patents and registering Trademarks in key foreign markets. Representatives of the Agency engaged the Attorney General to learn about the local landscape and activities happening on the Intellectual Property Front.

They also advocated for the promotion of greater Intellectual Property protection. The USPTO offered to provide assistance necessary to enhance the local Intellectual Property landscape in Guyana, in an effort to enhance the ease of access of dealing with Intellectual Property transactions.

The Attorney General thanked the delegation for initiating the engagement and updated them on the wide-ranging statutory and other legal reforms taking place in Guyana.

He highlighted modernisation of the commercial architecture as a priority, noting that Patents, Trademarks and Intellectual Property are among the areas for review.

The Attorney General however emphasised that “the Government of Guyana will chart the direction in which these reforms will unfold with priority being given to CARICOM model type legislation. All assistance…especially in the form of training and capacity building will be welcomed by Guyana.”