In this Issue:

New INSME information material and dissemination channels

The INSME family has grown. In the course of updating the INSME services dedicated to its members and followers, our team was able to raise a positive number of responses from our members and innovation stakeholders globally. To provide you with some numbers:
 
600: this is the average number of visitors our newly established Blog attracts monthly (trend increasing);
 
191: the connections with INSME on LinkedIN;

276: INSME followers on Twitter. Keep up to date on innovation matters following us on the social networks Twitter and LinkedIN;
 
51: the participants to the last session of our online INSMEAcademy. The number of participants to the training sessions is growing and we foresee to have more than 80 participants for the upcoming sessions.
 
The network is renewing its skin and the INSME Team has in store a brand-new PREZI presentation of its activities that will be posted soon on our portal. Stay tuned!
 
We use this occasion to thank all INSME members for the constant support and for making all these changes happen.

Euromed@Change - New dynamics for SME and cluster internationalisation

The EuroMed@Change program aims at building a sustainable framework for international cooperation among key innovation actors (Start-ups, SMEs, Clusters, Investors) from the south and the north of the Mediterranean in sectors with high growth potential and cooperation.
 
The project is founded by the European Union and will associate the main economic decision makers of the Mediterranean countries (Governments, international institutions etc.).
 
Within this project, the ANIMA Investment Network (INSME Member) is the leader of a consortium which has been selected by the European Commission to manage a pilote project on SME and Cluster internationalisation between Europe and 4 targeted Mediterranean countries (Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia). 
 
Business development actions and supporting actions (such as IP trainings and softlanding actions) will be developed in 2013 and 2014 around selected high-growth sectors.
 
Read more at this page.

EU and Japan officially launched the negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement

The EU and Japan officially launched the negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement in March. The first round of these negotiations was held in Brussels from the 15^th to the 19^th of April 2013 and "it has been a good start", according to Mauro Petriccione, Director in the European Commission's Directorate General for Trade.
 
The negotiations aim at coming to a comprehensive agreement in goods, services and investments, at eliminating tariffs, non-tariff barriers and at covering other trade-related issues, such as public procurement, regulatory issues, competition and sustainable development.
 
This Agreement could become an important factor to boost the economies of EU and Japan, since Japan is the EU's 7^th largest trading partner globally and the EU's 2^nd biggest trading partner in Asia after China. Conversely, the European Union is Japan's 3^rd largest trading partner, after China and the United States. Together the European Union and Japan account for more than one third of the world's GDP.
 
Read more at this page.

Using a Story in Innovation Works

This article explains the reasons why "business has to become more emotionally intelligent" and why "storytelling" is becoming a useful tool for marketing and innovation. According to the author, the power of business stories is that through narratives we can touch people's hearts and minds.

Read the full article here.

IPR CHINA SME Help Desk: Software Copyright Registration in China: Know Before You Go

In Europe registering software as a copyright is a relatively uncommon practice, with only few EU member states providing copyright registration. Instead, evidence to prove authorship is usually sufficient to enforce IPR ownership. This is not, however, the case in China, where the copyright registration is highly recommended.

In this article the China IPR SME Help Desk (INSME Partner) discusses the importance of registering software as a copyright in China and describes the registration process in China.

Read the article

EU Prize for Women Innovators

After the success of the first Prize for Women Innovators, awarded in 2011, the European Commission continues its drive to spotlight women researchers who have brought outstanding innovations to the market and intends to award up to three "Prizes for Women Innovators 2014" following a contest.
 
The contestants must be women resident in an EU Member State or in Associated  Countries of the Research Framework Programmes and founders or co-founders of an existing and active company, registered before the 1^st of January 2011.
 
The deadline to submit applications is the 15^th of October 2013.
 
Further information at this page

European SME Week

Coordinated by the European Commission, the "European SME Week" campaign promotes enterprises across Europe in line with the Small Business Act for Europe.
 
It will take place in 37 countries, so - national, regional or local - events and activities will be as close as possible to existing and potential entrepreneurs.
 
The European SME Week 2013 will include the period from the 25^th to the 30^th of November.
 
The main event is supposed to take place together with the SME Assembly and the European Enterprise Promotion Awards Ceremony, from the 25^th to the 27^th of November 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
 
Read more here

OECD Scoreboard on SME and entrepreneurship finance

This brand new publication, issued by the OECD, analyses trends in access to finance over the period 2007-2011, based on annual and quarterly data from central banks and national statistical agencies. 
 
The report provides detailed country profiles of financial conditions for SMEs in 25 countries, containing  indicators of debt, equity, general market conditions, a review of Government policy measures, along with information on public and private initiatives to support SME finance. It also contains a discussion on methodological issues - including recommendations for data improvements - as well as statistical resources.
 
Further information at this page

EU Research & Innovation portal

This webiste is part of the European Commission's Europa portal and is designed to share news about European Research & Innovation (political decisions, reports, projects etc.), with a specific focus on SMEs.

One of the website's sections is dedicated to the new EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020.  

Visit the portal

European IPR Helpdesk Bulletin

Issued by the European IPR Helpdesk (INSME Partner), the Bulletin offers a closer look at some IP and R&D issues from varying perspectives to its readers, providing illustrative case studies and success stories, easy-to-read expert articles, interviews as well as reports on past events and activities of the European IPR Helpdesk team. 

The Bulletin is published on a three-monthly basis.

Subscribe to the Bulletin here