26 April marks another World IP Day, and this year’s campaign focusses on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), highlighting their role in the economy and how they use intellectual property rights to build better businesses.
SMEs form a large part of the Australian economy. Australia has over 2 million SMEs, accounting for 99.8% of all businesses and around 68% of employment in the private sector. Intellectual property protection can be an essential part of helping an SME protect critical technology, brands and products, providing them with a competitive edge in their market. This can help build a stronger, more competitive, and resilient business.
For over 130 years, Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick has assisted many Australian SMEs in protecting their valuable IP across all technologies. We’ve seen some of these grow into larger, in some cases multinational, companies with their IP being one of several factors helping to underpin their success.
In 2000, the member states of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) designated 26 April as World IP Day – a day built around increasing general understanding of IP.
Each year, World IP Day offers a unique opportunity to join with others around the globe to consider how IP contributes to the flourishing of music and the arts and to driving the technological innovation that helps shape our world. Additionally, WIPO offers a wide range of useful resources on their website – this year on how SMEs can best use IP to achieve success. We recommend viewing WIPO’s resources here: https://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/ipday/
