Your Excellences, distinguished guests, It is for me an honor to address you at this very special occasion. After all, the opening of a Bureau for Intellectual Property is something that happens about as frequently as the founding of a new country. We have experienced constitutional changes within a rather unique framework in the recent past—one that on multiple occasions has led to quite interesting conversations and discussions within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, even among legal professionals, on matters such as intellectual property legislation and procedures. The constitutional changes that took place within the Kingdom have resulted, among other things, in the establishment of the country of St.-Maarten, thus opening the way for us to have the privilege of being here today, witnessing a truly historic occasion: the opening of the Bureau for Intellectual Property of St. Maarten. Since 10-10-10, in connection with the constitutional changes, the Bureau for Intellectual Property of Curaçao has been entrusted to support the country of St. Maarten as it continues administrating the rights acquired in the past by trademark holders, and have been doing so these last five years.
Our history as trademark registrars began in 1893, and the oldest registered trademark still in force stems back to the year 1901. That trademark’s continuity in St. Maarten, throughout all these decades until now, would not have been possible without the expertise, dedication and efforts of those who came before us. And without a provision for the registration of trademarks in St. Maarten, both the history and the continuity of the protection of these trademarks could be lost. It is in part due to the arduous labors of the Bureau for Intellectual Property of Curaçao that the trademark registration for the country of St. Maarten can move forward, having started out as part of the trademark registration under the Colony of Curaçao towards the end of the nineteenth century, and afterwards under the country of the Netherlands Antilles. Today, we see more and more changes around the world in the way business is conducted. The emphasis is increasingly on the value of intangible goods protected under intellectual-property legislation. For example, how would Ms. Taylor Swift have been able to protect the titles of her new album, 1989 as trademarks? Or how could Ms. Beyoncé Knowles have allowed for her likeness to be used in promoting the Ivy Park line of sportswear? None of that could have been possible without a Bureau for Intellectual Property. The reason for this lies in the primary task carried out by such bureaus, which is to prepare law bills for the protection of intellectual property, register trademarks and act as a center for maintaining said registrations. At present, there are three laws in force for St. Maarten, protecting three separate areas of intellectual property rights: copyrights, patent rights and trademarks. Recently, I was listening to a cover of Michael Jackson’s song Beat it. It was performed by a lady with a lovely voice, but was interpreted as a very slow Jazz, making the song pretty much unrecognizable at first. As bureaus for intellectual property, our task is to provide the community with ways of protecting their rights— within the framework of applicable legislation, and in this case, for instance, within the framework of the copyright law—and to explain the effects such a cover may have on the original work, its original performer and its original composer. Now, St. Maarten has its own Bureau taking care of all that, under the direction of Ms. Rosen, with the support of Ms. Jusia and Mr. Kutluer. In conclusion, be assured that we at the Bureau for Intellectual Property of Curaçao remain at your disposal, to continue working together in the interests of our communities. Please allow me to congratulate you and convey our best wishes, on behalf of the Bureau for Intellectual Property of Curaçao.