The project “Value Intellectual Property for SMEs - VIP4SME” is a European project funded by the European Union`s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the financing contract with the EU Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)– Grant Agreement No.641012.
The VIP4SME Project aims to develop business support services in the field of intellectual property for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the member states of the project to make the SMEs aware of the intellectual capital they own and the existing tools for the exploitation of intellectual assets and their transformation into commercial values.
In order to achieve its goals, the project has set itself the following objectives:
- to identify the Intellectual Property needs of SMEs;
- to create and improve the intellectual property services for SMEs;
- to strengthen the capacity of the National Intellectual Property Offices and of the intermediaries/ organizations supporting SMEs – IP service providers;
- to improve the level of the knowledge in the field and the quality of the services provided to SMEs.
The VIP4SME project coordinator is the company FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V.. from Germany. The project includes four workpackages:
- WP1 „Knowledge and Content Management” – project leader: company Fraunhofer;
- WP2 „IP Support and Services to SMEs” – project leader: Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Greece;
- WP3 „Communication” – project leader: Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato e Agricoltura di Venezia Delta Lagunare.
- WP4 „Project Management and Coordination ” – project leader: company Fraunhofer.
Currently, the VIP4SME project consortium is formed by 19 beneficiary partners and 34 associated partners from 32 member states.
The Republic of Moldova is represented in the project by the State Agency on Intellectual Property (AGEPI) and the Organization for Small and Medium Enterprises Sector Development (ODIMM) as associated partners as from November 2016.
The VIP4SME project is a continuation of the IPeuropeAware project (http://www.ipeuropaware.eu/), implemented between 2007 and 2011 and IPorta (http://www.innovaccess.eu/) implemented between 2011 and 2014. Both projects were implemented by consortia formed mostly by National IP Offices from EU and geared towards strengthening the capacity of the offices in order to develop a necessary tool for providing and managing IP business services (IP Toolbox), such as IP pre-diagnosis, EVLIA, etc., including the development of an information portal www.inovacces.com. The VIP4SME project has taken over the results achieved in the previous two projects, strengthening and multiplying them nationally in the member states of the VIP4SME partners.
More details on the project can be found at:
http://www.innovaccess.eu/vip4sme-project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-JsdRCZE0c