17-18 October 2005: The Identification and Valuation of Intellectual Property in Small and Medium Enterprises and Entrepreneurs, Skopje

The seminar on “The Identification and Valuation of Intellectual Property in Small and Medium Enterprises and Entrepreneurs” will be held in Skopje on 17-18  October 2005 as part of the EC-funded CARDS Programme on Intellectual Property Rights in the Western Balkans. Its main purpose is to educate owners and managers of SMEs about the valuation of intellectual property, to highlight the benefits of intellectual property for business start-ups and to enhance the capabilities of supporting institutions with a view to facilitating the access of SMEs to IP tools.

Fatmir Besimi, Minister of Economy, Government of FYR Macedonia, Hans-Hermann Giese, CARDS Project Director, European Patent Office (EPO), Guriqbal Singh Jaiya, Director of the SMEs Division, World Intellectual Property Organization, and Xheamail Elmazi, Director of the State Office of Industrial Property (SOIP), FYR Macedonia, will open the event and welcome representatives of SMEs and the delegations of the five countries participating in the CARDS project. More than one hundred and fifty participants from Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and FYR Macedonia, and especially those involved in the TEHNOMA FAIR, are expected to attend this seminar. International experts from different countries including Great Britain and Germany will present case studies and organise practical exercises for managers and employees of SMEs and for IPR professionals from supporting IP institutions.

Seminar topics will cover most important elements of IP valuation and its techniques, marketing and branding strategies in the use of trade marks, geographical indicators and industrial design for business success, improving profitability through direct exploitation or licensing, etc. Seminar participants will have a unique opportunity to visit the TEHNOMA FAIR and to learn about innovation in Macedonia's commerce and industry. A special feature will be the presentations of case studies intended to help managers of SMEs to recognize their own needs and opportunities.

Co-organisers of the seminar are the State Office of Industrial Property of the FYR Macedonia and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The CARDS Regional IPR Programme is putting on this event as a means of promoting regional co-operation and helping private-sector companies to integrate intellectual property into their business approach for developing competitive positions on the international market.

The seminar on “The Identification and Valuation of Intellectual Property in Small and Medium Enterprises and Entrepreneurs” will be held in Skopje on 17-18  October 2005 as part of the EC-funded CARDS Programme on Intellectual Property Rights in the Western Balkans. Its main purpose is to educate owners and managers of SMEs about the valuation of intellectual property, to highlight the benefits of intellectual property for business start-ups and to enhance the capabilities of supporting institutions with a view to facilitating the access of SMEs to IP tools.

Fatmir Besimi, Minister of Economy, Government of FYR Macedonia, Hans-Hermann Giese, CARDS Project Director, European Patent Office (EPO), Guriqbal Singh Jaiya, Director of the SMEs Division, World Intellectual Property Organization, and Xheamail Elmazi, Director of the State Office of Industrial Property (SOIP), FYR Macedonia, will open the event and welcome representatives of SMEs and the delegations of the five countries participating in the CARDS project. More than one hundred and fifty participants from Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and FYR Macedonia, and especially those involved in the TEHNOMA FAIR, are expected to attend this seminar. International experts from different countries including Great Britain and Germany will present case studies and organise practical exercises for managers and employees of SMEs and for IPR professionals from supporting IP institutions.

Seminar topics will cover most important elements of IP valuation and its techniques, marketing and branding strategies in the use of trade marks, geographical indicators and industrial design for business success, improving profitability through direct exploitation or licensing, etc. Seminar participants will have a unique opportunity to visit the TEHNOMA FAIR and to learn about innovation in Macedonia's commerce and industry. A special feature will be the presentations of case studies intended to help managers of SMEs to recognize their own needs and opportunities.

Co-organisers of the seminar are the State Office of Industrial Property of the FYR Macedonia and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The CARDS Regional IPR Programme is putting on this event as a means of promoting regional co-operation and helping private-sector companies to integrate intellectual property into their business approach for developing competitive positions on the international market.