Promoting innovation through intellectual property protection systems

The intellectual property concept and its several protection systems, either at national or international level, should be known by entrepreneurs as the way to protect their core business technologies and R&D activities, in order to take advantage of the innovations achieved. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been assuming a very important role in the productive sector of national economies. In the specific case of small enterprises with a technological basis - most of them operating in incubators - protection of intellectual property is even more crucial as they belong to a sector of the knowledge front with a strong scientific component. Therefore, this article intends to focus on the basic facts of intellectual property protection systems, the technology transfer tools available such as licensing agreements, and the latest developments in international legislation in this field such as the possible creation of a community patent system within the European Union, the conditions for patenting biotechnology inventions including genes and the controversy surrounding the TRIPS Agreement with regard to access to pharmaceuticals.