N. 42, April - June  2009  
Editorial 
SMEs and IPR Enforcement
Ann-Charlotte Söderlund
 
During 2008-2009, I had the opportunity to participate in the EU Commissions project “Best Practice for Enforcement of IPR for SMEs”. The aim of the IPR Enforcement project was to find ways for SMEs to enforce their intellectual property rights by improving the support available to them. Even though we now have appropriate IP legislation in force, not much has been done to help the SMEs - which nowadays are facing much greater threats from infringers – to actually use those measures to enforce their rights...
 
IP & RTD: Articles 
 
  Resolving the Paradox of Innovation in Europe’s Fashion Industry – the need of a Practical Guide
Roya Ghafele
Currently, there is a paradox in the European textile industry: while the European Union has provided an excellent framework for design protection, we see only very few companies, and even fewer SMEs in the sector, proactively using intellectual property to develop their business...
 
 
  Mediation in Research & Development projects – the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
Judith Schallnau
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), especially mediation, has enjoyed particular attention in the recent past. Following long-standing discussions starting with the Vienna Action Plan in 1998, Directive 2008/52/EC on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters was adopted in May 2008 and its provisions will have to...
 
  The 72-Hour Race to Innovation – a proof of concept turned television programme
Christina Nordström
Can you create a completely new product in 72 hours? And can you do this even though you’re not a professional inventor? Professor Kaj Mickos is convinced you can, and that anyone can produce an innovation. In his TV programme on Swedish television, “The 72-Hour Race to Innovation”, he wants to prove this by putting ordinary people...
 
 
 
  Design protection and China
José J. Izquierdo Peris
On 5th June 2008, China’s State Council adopted the country’s National IP Strategy. The idea is that, by 2020, China will become an innovative country by improving its capacity to create, utilise, protect and administer intellectual property. This means transitioning from an economic model based on the “made in China” label to a...
 
 
IP in practice 
 
  Patent of the month
 
The European Commission and the European Patent Organisation (EPO) recently revealed some of the nominees for the 2009 edition of the European Inventor of the Year. In the category ‘Industry’, the winners are Jürg Zimmermann and Brian Druker, two medical researchers from Novartis, for their work on a new drug to fight Chronic Myelogenous...
 
 
  esp@cenet Quiz
 
Have a look at this amazing YouTube video on an invention that will certainly save some fingers... Can you find a corresponding patent for this invention? If so, please list the name of the inventor and the oldest priority number! ...
 
  IP eModules
 
Patent filings are often said to be practically immune to economic crisis. This is mainly because the number of filings is closely linked to R&D spending, and in economic downturns, corporations tend not to reduce those expenditures in order to keep or improve their recovery prospects...
 
 
 

 
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