IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market
Intellectual property is one of the most powerful engines of the economy and it therefore makes absolute sense for it to have its own day.
So today, 26 April, we celebrate World Intellectual Property Day, an international commemoration created back in the year 2000 by WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization.
This date was not, of course, selected merely at random – it was chosen symbolically as it is the date on which the WIPO Convention entered into force in 1970.
Since the Portuguese business fabric is essentially composed of SMEs, we could say that this year, 26 April is Portugal’s day because it is dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises, the heart of our economy.
SMEs represent around 90% of businesses worldwide. In Portugal, this figure rises to 99.9% and according to the Pordata database, 96% are microbusinesses. This means that almost the whole Portuguese business fabric is made up of companies which have fewer than 10 employees and have an annual turnover or balance sheet total not exceeding two million euros.
Fortunately, many SMEs are able to develop and transform themselves into large companies.
It has been proved that businesses which actively use the industrial property system to protect their innovation are those that become more solid and competitive, while simultaneously creating more jobs.
Investing in innovation and industrial property is creating value!
The restarting of the economy, which we all desire, must therefore be allied with a concern for the defence and of valuation intellectual property.
This is the main concern behind the creation of this digital platform, which aims to bring together legal and technical news and articles in the world of IP, with particular focus on national endeavours.
