Committee IP for SMEs
Committee Chairs
The committee chairs supervise the committee work to identify topics, problem areas, and tasks to be solved in the committee’s area of practical IP for SMEs. They coordinate the further development of tasks and solution approaches of IP for SMEs and enlarge and intensify the awareness for its topics.
Task Force | EU projects and EU initiatives to support SMEs in the field of intellectual property
Claire Fritz
Task Force Leaderin
The mission of the task force is to present existing support for EU SMEs in the field of intellectual property (IP) as well as new support services developed by key EU IP stakeholders such as the European Commission, EUIPO or the EPO.
The team will explore IP support, from awareness and information to support for IPR registration, IP management and use, IP as a lever to obtain financing, and IP enforcement. This includes information on services for all SMEs in the EU, including those involved in cross-border activities or engaged in EU-funded research for public research organizations and/or higher education institutions.
The objective of the activities is to provide an overview of existing and future IP support for SMEs and to discuss how business support and IP support can best interact and cooperate.
The target audience is SME business support services or SMEs directly.
Purpose
Intellectual property (IP) can be seen as one of the most critical issues in the innovation process today. However, although the relevance of intellectual property within the innovation ecosystem is obvious, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide do not make full use of the strategic possibilities concerning IP management and its role in the exploitation and valorisation of intangible assets.
The Committee for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) pursues the goal of accelerating the transfer of knowledge in the field of IP management to SMEs to foster innovation and growth.
Using the European Commission’s classification as a guide, enterprises which employ fewer than 250 persons are considered as SMEs. Furthermore, within the SME category, a small enterprise is defined as an undertaking employing fewer than 50 employees, while a micro enterprise is defined as an undertaking employing fewer than 10 people. The full EU definition criterion, as established by EU Recommendation 2003/361 can be found at https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/smes/sme-definition_en
Challenges
Large-scale enterprises with worldwide operations have already adapted to leverage on IP management realities, but this is not likewise applicable to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) who are mostly not capitalising yet on their intangible assets / intellectual property.
Various studies have consistently shown that the reasons for the underusage of the formal IP rights system (eg. patents, trademarks, designs, etc.), even by potentially or actually innovative SMEs, are primarily twofold: first and foremost, the high costs of protection and enforcement; and, secondly, the lack of awareness by SMEs on how the IP rights system works. Furthermore, small and medium-sized enterprises frequently lack the IP management skills and sometimes also the incentives to manage intellectual property strategically and to maximize their impact on innovation.
Core challenges are:
- What IP management tools and services would be most relevant to SMEs?
- How can the awareness of the importance of IP management be increased at top management and C-executive levels within innovative SMEs?
- What are the culprits why SMEs do not incorporate IP management and strategies within their business models (eg. is it lack of IP education and training)?
- Do different needs exist in IP management services due to different typologies of SMEs?
- What approaches (technological, governmental-intervention, etc.) should be actioned to make IP management more accessible and in reach to SMEs?
Activities
The needs, knowledge and perception of IP management from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and within SMEs themselves are clearly different. SMEs need above all help with IP management awareness, IP assessment, IP protection (activating IP and infringement monitoring), as well as with IP valorisation (the strategic exploitation of IP assets).
Possible approaches and activities for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)´s committee and task force members:
- Identify areas of explorative studies to seek deeper knowledge on the needs and usage of IP management by SMEs;
- Investigate the creation of IP management tools and services that could assist in providing IP management services to SMEs and how to promote them;
- Provide advice and training support on IP management to intermediaries involved in the SME ecosystem who are instrumental for a global SME reach
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