The Guam Trademark Commission met this morning at the Guam Legislature to continue the development of the Guam Trademark Law.

The goal of the Commission is to create policy recommendations, rules, and legislation of two specific areas: The Guam Trademark and Intellectual Property Rights Act and the Guam Cultural Trademark Act. The intent of the legislation is the protection of intellectual property, as well as a range of cultural arts, including the lineage of cultural knowledge.

Senator Kelly Marsh (Taitano), chair of the Committee on Heritage and the Arts, explained that this initiative was prompted back 2016 as Guam prepared to host the Festival of Pacific Arts and that the Commission is continuing the work.

"We really wanted to make sure that we were safeguarding our community's intellectual property rights, assets, and other assets," she said.

The senator said the two acts being developed are much different from the already existing Guam Trademark Act, which registers the many categories of tangible or intellectual properties locally with the U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office.

The Trademark Commission consists of nine GovGuam agencies including the Department of Chamorro Affairs, Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency, Guam Economic Development Authority, Department of Revenue and Taxation, the Office of the Attorney General, as well as two members representing organizations that are active in the promotion of Chamorro cultural arts on Guam and additional public and private members to serve on subcommittees.

There is already a program that registers products made in Guam called the Guam Product Seal that is administered and regulated by the GEDA.

GEDA rep. Matthew Baza says that the two Guam Trademarks being developed will not replace the Product Seal. Although intellectual property is part of the language of the Product Seal law, he says it is intended only in part to define what stipulates that a product is in fact made in Guam and does require the product to be culturally relevant.

"It's really just a way to ensure that if someone is going to make something in Guam and market it as such, whatever item it may be, that it meets the minimum threshold of qualifying that it is made in Guam," he said. "This new seal may supplement the Guam Product Seal, not replace."

The Committee will reconvene in July and every month thereafter.