Below is an excerpt of an article published on the 17 August 2017 in World IP Review, based on an interview with Fractus CEO Ruben Bonet. 

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IP Europe, whose members include Nokia and Ericsson, is pushing for legal and financial changes to enable innovative SMEs to prosper. WIPR spoke to Ruben Bonet, CEO of Fractus, one of the companies involved, to find out more.

Tax credits and better access to justice are just two proposals aimed at seeking more support for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe.

The aims are part of a drive to boost the European economy and create high-value jobs, particularly in the areas of 5G and the ‘internet of things’ (IoT).

In June, a group called IP Europe—a collection of R&D-intensive companies—delivered a manifesto containing the proposals to the European Commission. The group wants to help Europe “realise its ambitions to become the world’s leading digital economy”.

Several household names, including Nokia, Airbus and Ericsson, are members, but other less familiar names are present too. Size is unimportant, however, as the members all share a common goal: “to maintain, at all policy levels, strong patent protection for innovators and support recognised fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory standardisation policies adopted by consensus that preserve fair compensation for innovators.”

The IoT space, one of the group’s main focuses, represents “a massive opportunity for European businesses”, with 75.4 billion connected devices expected to generate annual economic benefits of $11 trillion globally by 2025.

Within the manifesto’s “ensuring fair access to justice” section are desires for IP rights to be strongly protected and for pro-SME measures, including easier access to courts and lower fees, to be made available in all jurisdictions.

Read the article in full here (subscription required).

The SME Manifesto can be read in full here.