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The Importance of Intellectual Property for SMEs: Challenges and Moving Forward

Jaime Astudillo

University of Yachay Tech

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Article Critique

Nowadays, implementing intellectual property (IP) enables IP owners that can control

and exploit their innovations facilitating economic growth. Researchers have noted intellectual

property (IP) in a country's economic development will increase the investment and trading

activities (Santi-Salmah & Olivia, 2013). In the article "The importance of intellectual property

for SMEs: Challenges and moving forward," Santi-Salmah & Olivia (2013) discussed the

significance of IP to SMEs which often to be neglected as business assets and challenges faced in

implementing IP among the SMEs. While this article showed significant discussions about the

significance of IP for SMEs, there are limitations related to sample.

The researchers discussed an important topic; they showed the challenges that SMEs will

face in implementing intellectual property (IP). Knowledge and understanding of implementing

IP in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) would allow that entrepreneurs can use their IP in

their innovations. However, Santi-Salmah & Olivia (2014) did not provide key information about

how SMEs can face challenges in implementing IP. This lack of detail would make it the

difficult understanding of implementing IP in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) causing

economic losses.

This article focused on an important topic within the development of SMEs of developing

countries, but as researchers need to improve the details about implementing intellectual (IP) and

its operation. IP allows to SMEs exploit their innovation; therefore, implementing of IP could be

the best option for the economic growth. Santi-Salmah & Olivia shared (2013) shared policy-

making could be a way to facility applications process and reduce transaction costs in

implementing IP. However, this way did not adequately describe how SMEs can implement IP;

thus any doubts remain if some small and medium-sized companies adopted this way as an
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alternative in implementing IP. Future discussions about implementing IP need more details of

how SMEs can adopt this way for economic growth.

References

Sukarmijan, Sati-Salmah, and Olivia De Vega Sapong. “The Importance of Intellectual Property

for SMEs; Challenges and Moving Forward.” UMK Procedia, vol. 1, 2014, pp. 74–81.,

doi:10.1016/j.umkpro.2014.07.010.