Cabinet has approved the establishment of yet another State-owned special-purposes company to specially protect this country's intellectual property rights, inclusive of its patents for the various forms of the pan.
This new company will be the 17th such enterprise formulated by the three administrations of Prime Minister Patrick Manning since the early 1990s.
Others include the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) which had been the subject of a Commission of Enquiry that was not gazetted as required by the Commission of Enquiry Act but is to be salvaged under the law by a Validation Act.
Legal Affairs Minister Peter Taylor announced the formation of the new special-purpose company during his contribution to the House of Representatives 2009/2010 Budget debate at the Red House, Port of Spain, late Friday night.
In doing so, he made reference to the concerns raised by Opposition Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh earlier in the debate about the operations of some special-purpose companies.
"Cabinet recently approved the establishment of a special-purpose company; I know the member of Caroni East will be extremely pleased to hear the establishment of a special-purpose company to manage all intellectual property in which the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has a controlling interest," Taylor said.
He said this included applications, market research and technology licenses as he disclosed the Government has applied for trademark protection for all the emblems and markings for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain in November.
Taylor said that this country's intellectual properties range from the archives of the Information Ministry "that tells the history of Trinidad and Tobago", much of which have broadcast rights to the innovations and methodologies in the oil and gas (industry) recorded by and housed at the Energy Ministry.
The Express understands the new special-purpose company will also be tasked with the ongoing pursuance of patents for the G-pan and other indigenous instruments and art forms.
Before addressing the intellectual properties issue, Taylor also commended the local supermarket owners and other such stakeholders for their response to comments he made during a post-Cabinet news conference in July, about the need to reduce the price of the food items they were selling.
