There is already an official 'Entrepreneur's Day' in the Netherlands each year, on the third Tuesday in November. But today, 21 August, is different, because it's 'World Entrepreneur's Day'..
The purpose of World Entrepreneur's Day (WED) is to raise awareness of entrepreneurship and innovation across the globe. WED is the perfect day to reflect on all those people who start their own business.
We at BOIP meet many start-up entrepreneurs during our information activities. We truly admire anyone who dare to take the step and become an entrepreneur. This step brings not only exciting challenges, but often a few uncertainties as well. It is also a step in a learning process, because as a starting entrepreneur you will find many obstacles on your path.
We try to contribute to this learning process with our information about IP. Because we believe that the (start-up) entrepreneur also needs knowledge about the value and protection of intellectual property (IP), an important asset. Many entrepreneurs fail to take such property into consideration, but according to the 2016 report INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP) SME SCOREBOARD, SMEs that effectively manage their IP rights realise 32% more turnover per employee.
It is important to find out which IP rights apply in your case via the IP-checklist on our site. Once you have done that, you can decide which rights — your trademark or patent rights, for instance — you wish to protect. We believe that the strategic deployment of intellectual property is crucial to the success of your business.
If you have questions about the protection of your intellectual property, please contact us by email at info@boip.int or by phone on 070 3491242 (from the Netherlands), 078 052 242 (from Belgium) or 8002 5383 (from Luxembourg).
And good luck and much enjoyment with your entrepreneurship!