​​EPO President sets out priorities for SME support

​​President António Campinos has attended the International Conference on IP Strategy for SMEs in a Competitive Market, organised by the Polish Patent Office. At the event on Wednesday, he spoke about the EPO’s commitment to making the patent system more affordable, accessible and visible for SMEs across Europe. ​ 

During his opening speech at the conference in Warsaw, President Campinos underlined the importance of SMEs to the European economy and the positive impact that patents have on business success and growth. However, making reference to Mario Draghi’s recent landmark report on European competitiveness, the EPO President also observed that only 9% of SMEs in the EU own formal IP rights, such as patents.  

“Patents have a critical role to play in turning inventions into commercial success,” said President Campinos, before outlining how the EPO is addressing the challenges that SMEs face. “It’s our joint responsibility to ensure the innovation ecosystem is accessible to everyone by fostering affordability, accessibility, and visibility.”  

Reducing costs, increasing accessibility and visibility for SMEs 

He went on to highlight the recent 30% reduction in patenting fees that has already saved eligible micro-entities more than €1 million in costs. The Unitary Patent has further improved both the accessibility and visibility of the patent system, offering uniform protection across 18 EU Member States. Moreover, SMEs account for about a third of all Unitary Patent requests made by European applicants. President Campinos encouraged all EU Member States to join the Unitary Patent system so that it can realise its full potential, as highlighted in Draghi’s report. The Deep Tech Finder was also highlighted as a key initiative providing visibility to over 8 500 investment-ready European startups and SMEs.   

Driving technological advancement through co-operation 

President Campinos closed by emphasising the importance of further initiatives to democratise access to patent knowledge, including the EPO’s Observatory on Patents and Technology, smart search platforms, and the PATLIB network of patent information centres throughout Europe. All these endeavours, he concluded, are driven by ongoing co-operation between EPO member states and working closely with EPO partners around the world. 

Other speakers at the conference included the President of the Polish Patent Office Edyta Demby Siwek; Director of the Visegrad Patent Institute Johanna Stadler; and Habip Asan, Director of the Division for Transition and Developed Countries, WIPO. EUIPO Executive Director João Negrão delivered a video message.