WIPO SMEs Newsletter June 2010

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 (IP) 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

A New WIPO Initiative - WIPO Gold - A Free On-line Portal

Earlier this month, WIPO launched WIPO GOLD, a portal of free on-line global intellectual property (IP) reference resources. Francis Gurry, Director General of WIPO hailed the launch of WIPO GOLD as a significant step towards fulfilling one of the strategic goals of WIPO – that of serving as a world reference source for IP information and analysis.

Israel Joins the International Trademark System of WIPO

Israel’s membership of the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Marks will become operational in Israel on September 1, 2010. The Madrid Protocol offers trademark owners having a real and effective business presence in one of the member States of the Madrid Protocol a cost-effective, user-friendly and streamlined means of protecting and managing their trademark portfolio in other member States of the Protocol.

Member States of WIPO Discuss Key Copyright Issues

Earlier this month, amongst other things, WIPO’s top copyright negotiating body discussed better access to copyright-protected works for the visually impaired (VIP) and other reading-disabled persons, as well as updating the rights of broadcasting organizations. The Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), meeting from June 21-24, 2010 also reviewed the status of discussions on updating the rights of performers in their audiovisual performances, calling for concrete proposals to advance negotiations. Delegates noted the progress made in implementing practical measures to facilitate access to copyright-protected materials by reading-impaired persons. This includes the ongoing work of the stakeholders’ platform and the recent launch of an on-line forum, www.visionip.org/forum, to broaden awareness and stimulate debate on this issue.

PCT Member States Agree on Steps to Enhance Benefits of International Patent System for all Countries

Member States of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)of WIPO – a cost-effective mechanism that facilitates the process of obtaining international patent protection – endorsed a series of recommendations to enhance the contribution of PCT in improving the quality of granted patents and to make the international patent system more useful to developing countries. The recommendations were made by the PCT Working Group which met from June 14 to 18, 2010. The recommendations include measures to reduce the unsustainable backlogs of some 4.2 million unprocessed patent applications around the world and to improve the quality of granted patents.

Italian Versions of “Making a Mark”, “Looking Good” and “Inventing the Future” Published

The Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e March (UIBM) published the customized versions of three WIPO publications entitled, “ Making a Mark”, “ Looking Good” and “ Inventing the Future”.

Italian Version of “Stitch in Time” Published

The Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e March (UIBM) published the customized version of the WIPO textile publication entitled, “ A Stitch in Time”.

Israeli Version of “Making a Mark” Published

The Israeli Law firm S. Horowitz & Co published the nationally customized version of the WIPO publication entitled, “ Making a Mark” into Hebrew.

TRAINING/LEARNING RESOURCES ON IP ASSET MANAGEMENT

IP Webcasting

The websiteof the IP Department of the Government of Hong Kong has a wide variety of very useful multimedia content on IP for Business.

IP Response

The free test of the Danish Patent and Trademark Office will take some 10 minutes to provide an insight into whether your company gets optimal returns from its knowledge assets.

Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright

The Library of Congress of the United States of America has used a set of multimedia presentations to take the mystery out of copyright.

The ABC of Copyright

The revised edition of the UNESCO publication on the basics of copyright has 89-pages which are written in an easily accessible style.

LINKS

SMEs as Patent Applicants in France

SMEs accounted for nearly 20% of the patent applications published by Frenchcorporate bodies in 2007 via the national route. This proportion is stable compared to the previous 1999 patent survey. SME patents have advanced by just over 9%, in line with the progress of patents filed by the entire population of French corporate bodies. Totaling 1,438 in number, SMEs represent more than half the population of French corporate bodies filing patent applications. This census highlights the emergence of an increasingly important category of SMEs, namely the small SMEs (less than 10 employees) whose prime activity is directly that of research and development.

Making IPR Work for SMEs

This document presents the results of a European ‘Best practice project: strengthening the IPR enforcement of EU industry and SMEs. It draws on the knowledge and experience of a broadly based group of experts on the management of intellectual property rights. It has nine clear messages for policy makers and business support organizations concerning improving enforcement of intellectual property rights by SMEs.

Meet the IP Middle Men

In this new era, we are watching the rise of market-maker intermediaries who seek to make IP a liquid asset class and, of course, profit from it. Who are these new players? Well, they are generally referred to as IP intermediaries because they are neither the IP creators nor the IP consumers (e.g., licensees and purchasers). These intermediary business models, however, attempt to perform one or more services, or offer one or more products that connect the IP creators and the IP consumers.

Creating Effective IPR Enforcement Support for SMEs

This publication of the IPeuropAware projectof the European Commission describes the steps that can be taken to provide really effective support services to SMEs in their management and enforcement of intellectual property rights. It is primarily addressed to the National Patent Offices across Europe and other organizations offering IPR support directly to SMEs. However, it should also be of interest to economic development organizations and those concerned with intellectual property and promotion of innovation in a modern economy.

5 Secrets to Collaborate Effectively between Start-ups and Corporations

http://technology-innovation-at-work.com/secrets/page22.html

Science, Technology and Innovation in Europe

This publication of Eurostat presents an analysis of science, technology and innovation in Europe by looking at the main statistical indicators in this field. The data and indicators in this publication focus primarily on the 27 EU Member States and the EFTA countries.

The statistics and indicators presented in this edition are in line with the Lisbon strategy and the Barcelona objectives. It maps Europe’s recent performance in terms of R&D, innovation, high-tech industries, knowledge-based services, patenting and human resources in science and technology.

Brave New Firms: High-tech Entrepreneurship in the United States

This study by Deutsche Bank Research seeks to gain a better understanding of innovative or high-tech entrepreneurship in the United States of America and to see what other countries can learn from it. Around 4% of all startups in the USA are founded in high-technology industries. Over the last decade, the share of high-tech entrepreneurs in the US adult population has trended upwards – thanks to a steady supply of new ideas in combination with the entrepreneurial spirit to put them on the market.

FORTHCOMING EVENT

Eighth Annual WIPO Forum on Intellectual Property and SMEs for Intellectual Property Offices and Other Relevant Institutions in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Countries, October 4 and 5, 2010, Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (UIBM), Rome, Italy

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.int with "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.