January 10, 2022
Micro, Small and Medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) make up 99% of businesses in Latin America.[1] To position these businesses for success, WIPO and the Member States of the Pacific Alliance launched a new collaboration in December 2021. It focuses on supporting MSMEs to maximize the potential by using intellectual property (IP).
The stakes are high for the region. Ambassador Alicia Arango, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva explained why during the launch. MSMEs in the Pacific Alliance “are the biggest source of employment, sometimes responsible for more than 95%” of the employment rate. She continued, “for those companies that foster creativity, it is essential that they have a good knowledge of the IP system.” Which is why government representatives from Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Peru joined WIPO to launch the project.
A focused intellectual property strategy can give companies a competitive advantage according to Marco Alemán, Assistant Director General, IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector at WIPO. “That MSMEs are able to protect and commercially exploit their IP assets is certainly crucial for their business development, their progress and the growth of economies in Latin America.”
Companies must proactively think about intellectual property from the moment an entity forms and throughout its journey. Equipping companies in the Pacific Alliance with the skills to achieve this is at the heart of the project. Through a joint collaboration between the Pacific Alliance and WIPO´s IP for Business Division, led by Guy Pessach, and the Division for Latin America and the Caribbean, led by Beatriz Amorim-Borher, the project will develop a customized toolkit on essential aspects of IP. The toolkit’s design emphasizes a commercial focus and avoids legalese. It will pull together the best materials from Pacific Alliance, its Member States, and WIPO to accomplish this. To make it as actionable as possible, the toolkit’s resources will be customized to reflect local law and identify resources where MSMEs can get additional assistance.
The toolkit will be put into action through a pilot clinic offering by SME support institutions in the Pacific Alliance. The project includes training to upskill their supporting institutions to provide strategic guidance on business intellectual property. By empowering these institutions to provide advice that can be easily digested and put into action, businesses will have a better chance to benefit from the positive impact intellectual property can deliver.
Find out how WIPO can help you support MSMEs in your region, contact us.
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0:00:00 |
Opening |
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Welcome remarks |
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0:01:33 |
Marco Alemán, Assistant Director General, IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector, WIPO |
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0:10:38 |
Ambassador Alicia Arango, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva |
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An advanced set of IP tools for MSMEs in the region |
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0:15:45 |
Oswaldo Gironés, Senior Counsellor, Division for Latin America and the Caribbean |
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Importance of supporting MSMEs in the Pacific Alliance in the use of Intellectual property |
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0:23:00 |
Angélica Romero, Director General for Multilateral Economic Affairs, Undersecretary of International Economic Relations, Chile |
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0:30:00 |
María Paula Arenas, Director of Foreign Investment and Services, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MINCIT), Colombia |
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0:35:30 |
Anel Valencia, Director General of Support Services, Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), Mexico |
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0:42:50 |
Mauricio Osorio, Deputy Director of Patent Promotion, Directorate of Inventions and New Technologies, National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi), Peru |
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Project implementation: next steps and presentation of focal points |
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0:48:30 |
Marta Díaz Pozo, Associate Legal Officer, IP Commercialization Section, IP for Business Division, WIPO Sebastián Molina, Head, Intellectual Property Division, Undersecretary of International Relations, Chile María José Lamus Becerra, Superintendent Delegate for Industrial Property, Superintendency of Industry and Commerce (SIC), Colombia Diana Heredia, Divisional Director of International Relations of the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), Mexico Mauricio Osorio, Deputy Director of Patent Promotion, Directorate of Inventions and New Technologies, National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi), Peru |
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Concluding remarks |
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1:11:00 |
Guy Pessach, Director, IP for Business Division, WIPO |