PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The Bureau for Intellectual Property Sint Maarten (the Bureau or BIP SXM) met with the Honorable Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunication (Minister of TEATT), Ms. Ludmila de Weever last Friday, July 16th, 2021, to present the audited Financial Statement 2020 and to discuss other pending items.
The Bureau is pleased to announce that it has received approval from the Minister of TEATT for its seventh Financial Statement (2020), as well as its seventh multi-annual budget and policy plan (2021-2025) submitted late last year. The Bureau is audited annually by Stichting Overheidsaccountantsbureau (SOAB).
The theme of the Financial Statement 2020 is ‘Covid-19 and Innovative capacity’. “Covid-19 has accelerated the digital transformation in general business operations at the Bureau. It was a fairly smooth transition for the Bureau to adapt to the Covid-19 measures imposed by Government, since the Bureau from inception has been operating primarily digitally and offers digital products and services, such as the online trademark registration.”, said the Director, Mrs. Rosen-Sandiford.
Minister de Weever has approved the audited Financial Statements 2018 through 2020 and the multi-annual budgets and policy plans 2020-2024 and 2021-2025 of the Bureau, during her time as Minister of TEATT. In addition, other (outstanding & new) items of both the Director and the Supervisory Board were discussed and addressed by the Minister and her staff.
“During my tenure as Minister of TEATT, the working relationship between the Ministry of TEATT and the Bureau has been fruitful. I would like to commend the Bureau on the outstanding work they have done and continue to do, in terms of transparency, communication, compliance and in their mission to increase IP awareness on and for Sint Maarten, both regionally and internationally. Intellectual Property (IP) is a vital part of doing business and can be used to grow one’s business. I encourage those who are starting a business or those who have not yet leveraged IP as a competitiveness tool to learn about the benefits of IP.” stated Minister de Weever.
The Bureau is an independent governing body and thus autonomous regarding its organization, the management of its resources and the representation of its interests. The Bureau is responsible for the implementation of the National Ordinance on Trademarks as well as providing information to the public about Intellectual Property rights. More information regarding the Bureau and its services can be found on www.bip.sx and on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube).
