IPwe
Giving SMEs the Tools to Innovate

Innovation is essential to ensure that companies’ product offerings remain relevant to the market, especially for small and medium businesses which must compete with big corporations to survive. IPwe’s main priority is to ensure that businesses that cannot normally afford to innovate can participate in the next technological revolution with access to relevant needed technology. IPwe’s Smart Pools facilitate this goal by unlocking innovation.

“In today’s technology-focused environment, digital transformation is unavoidable,” says Lavinia Meliti, Global Head of Business Development at IPwe. “The economic stability of a company should not be a barrier to innovation. However, in today’s society, the cost of innovation is incredibly high, making it nearly impossible for SMEs to innovate. That is why, at IPwe, we worked hard to reduce the cost of innovation for companies of all sizes.”

The IPwe’s Smart Pool is focused on emerging technologies, where there has not been a significant amount of licensing activities. Among them, IPwe successfully launched five Smart Pools around Blockchain, Metaverse, LiDAR, Digital Link, and ESG technologies. The Smart Pool consists of a collection of companies that have made a significant investment in an emerging technology, called Founders, and users that plan to implement or build on any of these innovations, called Members. The Smart Pool is designed to make it easier for technology leaders to share their technology with small businesses that could reap the benefits of the latest innovations while staying ahead of other large players. The Smart Pool represents a win-win solution for both Founders and Members, where Members pay the lowest price on the market for important technology licenses in their area of innovation, and Founders obtain a fair return on their patent portfolios that would not otherwise be utilized.

How does IPwe help small and medium sized businesses? “We worked hard to support SMEs, by giving them the opportunity to grow through innovation. To date, we are proud to say that we have over 300 member SMEs in our Smart Pools.” IPwe has, in fact, given the unprecedented opportunity to SMEs with annual revenue up to $1 million free membership to any of IPwe’s Smart Pool.

If the revenue is up to $10 million, then the annual fee becomes just $500. The Smart Pool provides a unique way for SMEs not only to feel comfortable working with large innovators but also to understand how they, too, as innovators, can be patent holders of innovation.

In such a highly competitive and fast-moving world where it is the survival of the fittest, innovation is the only constant. However, many SMEs are not able to innovate due to the excessive costs incurred with it. IPwe’s goal is to change this. Companies should not be discriminated against based on their economic capabilities when innovating. IPwe gives SMEs the opportunity to gain the competitive advantage needed to survive. “The price to join IPwes Smart Pools is affordable because we know that innovation leads us to a better world by ensuring economic growth, new jobs, new solutions and an innovative culture. SMEs are fundamental for the ecosystem, but they will not survive if they do not innovate, and they will not innovate if they cannot afford it,” says Ms. Meliti.

The economic stability of a company should not be a barrier to innovate. The price of innovation is extremely high, making it almost impossible for SMEs to innovate. That is why, at IPwe, we worked hard to change this

IPwe’s Smart Pools encourage further innovation. The nature of intellectual property is changing. It used to be used as a blunt force instrument to exclude, but today companies that invest heavily in innovation use intellectual property to encourage the adoption of their technology and core products and to expand commercial opportunities.