Over the last year or so, certainly since Beijing, and especially after his recent exploits in Berlin, there has been much discussion in Jamaica about the worth of Usain Bolt - not solely as an athlete, but as a global brand.

Or, posited another way, beyond the joy he has brought to Jamaicans by the blistering pace at which he runs, Bolt, along with our world-beating athletes, is helping to awaken in the country the great value of intellectual property.

The Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO), in that regard, could not have wished for a better circumstance in its hitherto uphill fight to promote respect for intellectual property. Except that we sense that too many people in Jamaica believe that protecting intellectual property rights ought to be a one-way street - one that runs only in favour of Jamaica - like ensuring that Bolt's now trademark archer stance is legally secured, or that Shelly-Ann Fraser's name is, for instance, not abused as an authorised Internet domain.

Street hustlers

Jamaicans, on the other hand, the attitude suggests, should be able to infringe with impunity on other people's intellectual property rights. Unfortunately, it is a mindset prevalent not only among street hustlers selling rudely pirated CDs or knock-off designer clothes; the contagion runs, apparently, to organised businesses too.

Take the case, being played out in the press this week, of the dispute between the United States (US) television content provider, Home Box Office (HBO), and Jamaican cable television companies over the latter's alleged illegal use of the former's service. It is indicative of the cavalier attitude with which formal businesses approach these things.

Jamaican cable companies have for years been offering their subscribers a range of HBO pro-ducts for which they do not pay. The entertainment company is now asking the local regulator, the Broadcasting Commission, to stop the practice and is also hinting at a lawsuit.

Infringement

What is particularly interesting about the issue are the reasons proffered by the cable companies for their infringement of HBO's intellectual pro-perty: the company has not, over the years, offered in this market a service that their subscribers would want, so they pinch what is on offer to the US domestic market.

It would seem to us that the legal and moral thing to do is not to offer HBO's service at all, except that, as Florence Darby, the CEO of Telstar reasoned, going that route would place her firm at a disadvantage if her competitors continued to provide subscribers with the pirated HBO feed. "Our customers want HBO," she said.

But so many people in other parts of the world would like, and have attempted, to brand their coffee as Jamaican Blue Mountain, or trespass on the works of Jamaican reggae artistes without regard for the concerns of the rightful owners.

We underscore this point about respect for intellectual property, inclusive of copyright and trademarks, because this is one area where comparative advantage is not constrained by geography, size or wealth. It is a function, largely, of the creative imagination of the individual. And here is where the playing field is most likely to be levelled - to Jamaica's advantage.

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