Minister of Financial Services the Hon. Tara Rivers addressed lawyers within the sports and entertainment industry on the intellectual property (IP) regime of the Cayman Islands at the 30^th annual North American Law Summit, held the week of 5 November at The Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort and Spa.

 The summit was held in Cayman for the first time. During the official opening on Thursday, 8 November, Minister Rivers informed attendees, representing record labels, sports teams, athletes and other celebrity clients, of Cayman’s advances in IP and the jurisdiction’s revamped legal framework.

 ‘The Cayman Islands is well-placed to attract the world’s most influential recording artists, filmmakers and athletes, and their support teams, not only as a tourist destination but also as a necessary component of their business within the region, as our legislative framework can protect their brands, image rights and other forms of intellectual property’, Minister Rivers said.

In her remarks, Minister Rivers highlighted Cayman’s updated copyright law which offers enhanced legal recourse against piracy and the jurisdiction’s revamped trademarks law, which can address any counterfeit goods related to celebrity merchandise and retail goods in the Cayman Islands. Minister Rivers also mentioned further actions were planned to better protect patents and design rights.

‘Ultimately, the Cayman Islands has taken a number of steps to modernise our IP regime and the result is that the jurisdiction can now offer a full suite of IP protection’, Minister Rivers said.

 The summit features members of numerous legal fraternities such as the American Bar Association Sports & Entertainment Law Section, the New York State Bar Association IP Law Section, and the Georgia Bar Association. 

The North American Law Summit was held in the Cayman Islands for the first time.