WIPO and INSME Co-Organize Training Program for SMEs on Use of IP to Boost Competitiveness
Geneva, May 11, 2005
Press Releases PR/2005/406
Geneva, May 11, 2005
WIPO AND INSME CO-ORGANIZE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR SMES ON USE OF IP TO BOOST COMPETITIVENESS
The capacity of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to exploit the intellectual property (IP) system to enhance their competitiveness will be at the heart of discussions at a joint training program organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the INSME Association (International Network for SMEs, www.insme.org), which will meet at WIPO's Geneva headquarters from May 11 to 13, 2005. Some one hundred self-financed representatives of SMEs, research centers, universities, public agencies and SMEs associations, from 33 countries are expected to attend the meeting, which will address issues relating to innovation, patent information, trademarks, valuation of IP assets, and intangible assets as a tool for raising finance.
The significant interest shown by enterprises and institutions from different parts of the world in the first ever WIPO-INSME training program suggests a strong interest in the subject at the international, national and sub-national levels. WIPO's SMEs division has noted that issues relating to the effective use of the tools of the IP system are felt in all parts of the world. Interest in this training program has come from Africa (Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon, Senegal and Sudan), Asia (Pakistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Mongolia and Malaysia) and America (Canada and USA). Participants are keen on getting a better understanding of the strategic use of IP, which is indispensable for SMEs to be able to compete domestically and internationally.
The three-day program provides an opportunity for both SMEs and their support institutions to learn about the use of available tools for creating, identifying, protecting, using and leveraging intellectual property assets. Experiences, success stories and new strategies will be presented. Participants will learn that a clever business idea, adequately protected, does provide a solid base for the lasting success of an enterprise. Concrete examples will be shared and discussed. The use of intellectual property rights as an additional tool for SMEs to obtain public and private financing will be highlighted. Increasingly, credit institutions estimate both the value of the innovative idea and the range of IP tools that are associated with it before granting a loan.
WIPO's SME Division and the INSME Association have steadily strengthened cooperation in the past five years. INSME, the International Network for SMEs, is an international non profit NGO that includes 65 members organizations in 31 countries. INSME has support from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and is sponsored by the Italian Ministry for Productive Activities and IPI, the Italian Institute for Industrial Promotion, which from Rome co-ordinates and manages its secretariat's activities. INSME acts as a one-stop-shop, catalyst and facilitator of contacts, aimed at strengthening transnational co-operation and partnership between the public and private sectors in the field of the innovation and technology transfer, with particular attention to the requirements of SMEs.
The full program and text of presentations are available at https://www.wipo.int/meetings/2005/wipo_insme/en/
For further information please contact the Media Relations and Public Affairs Section at (+ 41 22) 338 81 61, Fax: (+41 22) 338 82 80, E-mail: publicinf@wipo.int.