Elizabeth Morgan | Highlighting the importance of intellectual property rights today

It has always been recognised that development requires innovation and the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is essential.

On Sunday, July 16, the Gleaner published an article by Dr Jenny Bulstrode of the University College of London titled ‘Stolen Jamaican Innovation made British manufacturers ‘millionaires’’. This Gleaner also carried a follow-up article titled ‘Lost in Time: Little sign of former glory in Reader’s Pen centuries after British destroyed lucrative foundry’.

Dr Bulstrode’s article informed that from her research, she discovered that Briton, Henry Cort’s 18th century invention for processing wrought iron, known as the Cort Process, was actually developed by black workers, some enslaved, in a foundry in St Thomas, Jamaica, owned by John Reeder. Henry Cort had patented his new process in 1783, first, for using grooved rolling mills to make bars of iron, and second, in 1784, for using a reverberatory furnace for transforming pig iron into wrought iron known as puddling. These new processes enabled the making of wrought iron on a large scale and made a critical contribution to the industrial revolution in Britain. Dr Bulstrode argues that the black workers in Jamaica, at this time, were not credited for their inventions.

THE 18TH CENTURY BRITISH PATENT REGIME

First, let me clarify that wrought iron was not invented in Jamaica. It was known and used since ancient times. The issue raised concerns a process for making wrought iron.

Second, in the 18th century as the industrial revolution began, ordinary workers in Britain had no rights. Wages were miserly and working conditions were harsh. A worker could be imprisoned for three months for striking. Trade unions began to emerge at this time. Black enslaved workers in the British West Indies (BWI) had no rights, being considered property of their white owners.

Patent laws existed in Britain at this time. The first British patent letter for an original invention was issued in 1449. Patents were issued by the Monarch. The first patent law recognising new inventions was included in the 1624 Statute of Monopolies and it gave coverage to a new invention for up to 14 years. British patent laws evolved through court proceedings. The patent system was further upgraded to require written specifications for the new inventions. Later, improvements to an existing invention could be patented.

The 18th century patent system was very complicated, requiring about ten different processes and visits to seven different offices, and it was quite costly. Therefore, it was unlikely that ordinary white workers, let alone black, free or enslaved people, in Jamaica would have been able to register a patent. As owner of the St Thomas foundry, most likely John Reeder would have had the principal right to register a patent for a new invention in his foundry. However, we are told that this foundry, under British law then, was illegal in a slave colony and was dismantled by the British authorities. So, in this situation, Cort possibly discovered the invention and took the opportunity to file for a patent.

Note that British patent laws extended to the colonies through the imperial patents system and patents could be registered from Jamaica. The paper by Aaron Graham titled ‘Patents, technology, and innovation in Jamaica and the British Atlantic before 1857’ indicates that the British imperial patents’ system was used in Jamaica and patents were registered by British people and some coloured Jamaicans. There were innovations in Jamaica in agriculture to improve production and in other fields. Further reform of the British patents system came in 1857 and 1902.

THEFT OF PATENTS

Theft of patents is very old. It continues to this day. Disputes over intellectual property rights infringements between China and the European Union (EU) and the United States led to the adoption of the Agreement on Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (the TRIPS Agreement) at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1994.

The global intellectual property rights system has evolved since 1857. Two key agreements were adopted, in 1883, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, and, in 1886, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. These agreements are the foundation of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) established in 1967. Intellectual property matters are also addressed at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established in 1946. Now IPR matters are also addressed in the WTO with its dispute settlement mechanism.

Although Jamaica joined UNESCO, WIPO and WTO, it took quite a while for the country to update its intellectual property laws. The Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO) was established in 2001. A Copyright Act and an Act for the Protection of Geographical Indications were adopted. The 1999 Trademarks Act has been updated. However, up to 2020, Jamaica was still using the 1857 Patents Act. The new Patents and Designs Act was only adopted in 2020. Refer to my Gleaner article of March 25, 2020.

With Jamaica’s intellectual property system only upgraded in the last 22 years, we can imagine that many innovations may have been ”stolen” from Jamaica in the last 144 years.

PUBLIC AWARENESS OF IPR

The discussions around the 18th century Cort wrought iron process are focused on reparatory justice for slavery and reparation payments by Britain. My focus is on strengthening the current IPR regime at the regional and national levels. At the CARICOM level, a regional IPR office is still to be established. At both the national and regional levels, there need to be more investments in research and development and a greater public awareness of the benefits of the IPR regime so that current works of creators can be properly protected at the domestic, regional and global levels in the 21st century. Jamaicans should want to be millionaires today from their own creations.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com