WIPO and IP Wales Exchange Ideas on IP Outreach to SMEs
Geneva, November 5, 2002
Press Updates UPD/2002/177
Officials of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) met with members of the IP Wales team - the United Kingdom's first custom-made intellectual property business support initiative - in Geneva on Monday, November 4, 2002, to exchange ideas and explore areas for future cooperation with a view to strengthening use of intellectual property (IP) by small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The global SME sector, which is highly dynamic and employs large numbers of people, is the backbone of many economies. According to IP Wales research, SMEs make up 70% of employment in Wales. In 2000, SMEs accounted for all but 263 of the 144,147 firms established in Wales. In spite of the importance of SMEs to national economies, many have not fully exploited the value of IP or its potential in securing business development.
WIPO's SMEs program was established in 2000 in recognition of the need to promote better awareness and wider use of the IP system among SMEs worldwide. The program is designed to focus on the intellectual property needs and concerns of SMEs worldwide with a view to enhancing their competitiveness in the marketplace. It aims to strengthen the capacity of governmental, private and civil society institutions to formulate and implement policies and practical strategies to meet the intellectual property needs and concerns of SMEs.
Funded by the European Union and the Welsh Development Agency, IP Wales was launched in July 2002, with the aim of helping SMEs to grow their businesses through use of intellectual property. IP Wales provides practical business support to SMEs as well as the knowledge and financial means to protect and commercially exploit their intellectual property rights. The initiative is designed to promote economic development, and create and safeguard jobs in Wales.
In a presentation, Mr. Andrew Beale, Director of IP Wales, said that the overwhelming response by the SME community in Wales to this business support initiative underlined the genuine need to reach out to the SME community to ensure that this highly productive sector is able to leverage business development through better use of intellectual property assets. The IP Wales initiative already has a signed up membership of 1,150 firms, a total which far exceeds its initial target of 850 by December 2004. (For further details about the services offered by IP Wales, see http://www.ipwales.com).
The value of intellectual property among the SME community is often not adequately appreciated and its potential for providing opportunities for future profit is widely underestimated. In a market-place driven by demand for IP-protected products and services, IP becomes a valuable business asset that can:
- significantly improve an SME's market share or raise its profit margins through the licensing, sale, or commercialization of its IP-protected products or services;
- enhance the value or worth of an SME in the eyes of investors and financing institutions;
- in the event of a sale, merger or acquisition, significantly raise the value of an enterprise, and at times may be the primary or only true assets of value.
The strategic utilization of IP assets can, therefore, substantially enhance the competitiveness of an SME. Like physical assets, IP assets must be acquired and maintained, accounted for, valued, monitored closely, and managed carefully in order to extract their full value (see https://www.wipo.int/sme/en).
At the meeting, WIPO and IP Wales considered possibilities for further cooperation, including the possibility of organizing a joint forum for IP Offices of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries to exchange information on their outreach activities to SMEs.
For further information, please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at WIPO:
- Tel: (+41 22) - 338 81 61 or 338 95 47
- Fax: (+41 22) - 338 88 10
- Email: publicinf@wipo.int.