WIPO SMEs Newsletter January 2009

By the SMEs Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

WIPO SMEs Newsletter is a monthly e-publication providing readers with useful intellectual property information contained in articles, case studies, forthcoming IP/SMEs relevant events, and published presentations featured on our web site. We hope you will find it useful and informative. We encourage you to share the newsletter or items of interest with friends and colleagues. For past issues and information on the activities of the SMEs Division, please visit http://www.wipo.int/sme .

NEWS

Production of customized version of Making a Mark by SMI Association of Malaysia is now available

The translation and/or customization of the publications of SMEs Division may be authorized as perthe outlined procedures. An interested party may send a communication to
Mr. Guriqbal Singh Jaiya, Director, SMEs Division by email at guriqbal.jaiya@wipo.int. Technical and financial assistance would be offered to credible proposals received from national IP offices, copyright administrations, and SME support institutions. Preference would be given to proposals received from institutions in developing and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as well as countries-in-transition to a market-oriented economy in Europe and Asia. Some examples of national translations and/or customizations may be seen here. More

Vietnamese translation of Exchanging Value: Negotiating Technology Licensing Agreements - A Training Manual

This translation is now available on the SMEs Website (Part I and Part II).

Compendium of Patent Statistics 2008

This report provides a snapshot of the latest available internationally comparable data on patents and presents various patent indicators designed to reflect recent trends in inventive activities across a wide range of OECD member and non-member countries. More

PCT Distance Learning Course Launched

WIPO has launched a distance learning course introducing the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), an international system for filing a single patent application to obtain patents in a number of countries around the world. The self-study course includes test questions to measure your understanding and progress in learning the content.

BEST PRACTICES

The China IPR SME Helpdesk for European SMEs

The China IPR SME Helpdesk, a European Commission funded project, provides practical and business-focused advice for European SMEs which operate in or with China. Launched in May 2008, the Helpdesk's services are free of charge, and are aimed at assisting European SMEs in making the best possible IPR decisions for their business .

LINKS

End of the 6-Year Petty Patents in Belgium as from January 8, 2009

The Belgian law of March 28, 1984 offered the choice between, on the one hand, a Belgian patent having a 20 year term when a search report was requested and, on the other hand, a 6 year term Belgian patent ? sometimes called ?petty patent?- not accompanied by any search report. The latter option is not available any more. More

Intellectual Assets and Value Creation

This report discusses some key findings from OECD countries regarding the problem of measurement and valuation of intangible assets at macro, regional, and firm levels. It argues that intellectual assets are rarely reflected in official measures of economic performance, and most of them are not accounted for as investments in financial statements. It recommends that the government plays a key role in establishing appropriate macroeconomic and framework conditions conductive to development of intellectual assets and the creation of value. More

Branding special: the name game

This article sketches out branding strategy of the cellular industry. It argues that as networks and services become increasingly difficult to distinguish between, carriers look to brand strategies to gain attention and customers. It introduces the list of top 100 cellular brands in the world and discusses about the evolution of cellular operator brands. In particular, it explains some aspects of global brand strategy of Vodafone. More

Australian Intangible Asset Review

This report evaluates the breakdown and movements in intangible assets and goodwill disclosed by companies in the ASX 100. According to its analysis, 49% of enterprise value is not explained by balance sheets and Intangible Assets only represents 26% of net balance sheets assets. It argues that further declines in economic sentiment would imply Goodwill impairments of around $50 billion. More

BiD Network SME Investment Guide Series

This is a website to provide investors practical information to make informed decisions, thereby stimulating investments in SMEs seeking finance. It produces countries guides and at present there are two guides for Investing in SMEs in Uganda and in Colombia. More

E-learning resources on IP, innovation and business

The website of the European Patent Office has some useful e-learning modules on financing innovation. More

FORTHCOMING EVENT

Korea International Women's Invention Exposition (KIWIE) 2009, WIPO-KIPO-KWIA IP Management Forum on ?Global Market Access for Women Inventors and Entrepreneurs?, IP PANORAMA Business School for Women Entrepreneurs and Inventors, Seoul, Korea,
May 1 to 9, 2009

These events are organized by Korean Women Inventors Association (KWIA) to support women inventors and SMEs set up by women entrepreneurs to provide an opportunity for marketing their products, sharing information and experience, finding good business opportunities, and learning IP knowledge for business.

For further information, visit: http://kiwie.or.kr/index.asp or send an email to: kwia@inventor.or.kr or kwia0405@paran.com

NOTE:

The SMEs Division welcomes voluntary contributions of articles, case studies, news items, useful links and relevant information concerning forthcoming events of interest to entrepreneurs and SMEs for inclusion in future issues of this newsletter; contributions may be sent by email to sme@wipo.int.

If you have received this newsletter from someone and would like to subscribe yourself, then simply send an e-mail to sme@wipo.intwith "subscribe" as the subject, and indicate your language preference (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian).

The past issues of this newsletter, since August 2001, may be accessed here.