To a global market suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic of World Intellectual Property Day 2021, “IP & SMEs: Taking your ideas to market,” is particularly meaningful. According to the data provided on the website of the World Bank, globally, about 90% of enterprises are small and medium enterprises and about 50% of laborers are employed by small and medium enterprises. In countries belonging to the emerging market, small and medium enterprises even may contribute about 40% of the GDP. The influence of small and medium enterprises on the global economy and individual countries is far bigger than one might imagine. Taking Taiwan as an example, small and medium enterprises account for 97.65% of the total enterprises and employ 78.73% of laborers. Therefore, for the desired economic recovery in 2021, reviving the business of small and medium enterprises other than those belonging to the high tech industry (the upcoming business of which is already highly promising because of the super business cycle of the semiconductor industry) is a critical factor and will determine whether the general public actually feels the economic recovery.

However, the total number of applications for intellectual property rights filed by small and medium enterprises is below that of large enterprises. In Taiwan, based on the yearly statistics provided by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), in 2020, the number of patent applications filed by large enterprises was 10,794 while the number of patent application filed by small and medium enterprises was merely 3,334. Considering that 97.65% of the total enterprises in Taiwan are small and medium enterprises, the number of patent applications filed by small and medium enterprises appears to be marginal. On the bright side, considering the growth rates of patent applications in recent years, in 2018-2020, the number of patent applications filed by small and medium enterprises respectively grew by 8%, 7% and 17% while the growth rates of patent applications filed by large enterprises were respectively 2%, 6% and -4%. While the number of patent applications filed by large enterprises in 2020 seems to have been affected by the pandemic, the number of patent applications filed by small and medium enterprises actually grew despite the trend.

Furthermore, based on the research report “High-growth firms and intellectual property rights, IPR profile of high-potential SMEs in Europe, May 2019” published by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), about 21% of the small and medium enterprises which have applied for intellectual property rights experience growth and about 10% even have a chance to achieve a growth rate of 20% or more. Apparently, small and medium enterprises owning intellectual property rights have a better chance to translate their creativity into business opportunities, raise their value and provide more innovative and improved products and services to their clients.

In fact, many intellectual property right related organizations have noticed the importance of small and medium enterprises for a creative environment. After all, the long term growth energy of a country’s economy is closely associated with the growth of its small and medium enterprises. Besides, because nowadays market competition is intense and product technologies and services in all fields are continuously evolving, more than ever before, innovation is the key to ensure continuous growth of small and medium enterprises. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) both provide a special section on their websites for small and medium enterprises (https://www.wipo.int/sme/en/) to help them become familiar with intellectual property rights and understand the business benefits and importance of intellectual property rights for the expansion of their business. The TIPO also provides a small and medium enterprise IP section (https://pcm.tipo.gov.tw/SME/index.html) with relevant information about basic concepts of intellectual property rights and answers to common questions.

Intellectual property rights are certainly not a privilege merely reserved for the rich or a tool only available to large enterprises. For small and medium enterprises, in addition to enhancing their competitiveness, converting creations or brands into intellectual property rights may increase the gross margin and result in advantages for inter-company cooperation and attract investors in an unexpected way.