In the summer of 2022, the Patent Office, in cooperation with the marketing and public opinion research centre "SKDS", conducted a study "Entrepreneurs' Understanding of Industrial Property Rights", in order to assess Latvian entrepreneurs’ awareness of the protection of industrial property (IP) rights, their attitude towards violations of these rights, such as malicious copying of products, understanding of the link between IP rights and business development, as well as awareness of the SME fund "Ideas Powered for Business ". The study was conducted among 2808 Latvian entrepreneurs.
The study shows that only 29% of Latvian entrepreneurs rate their knowledge of IP protection as good or average, while more than 70% rate it as incomplete. The majority believes that registered IP rights increase the value of the company (58%); registered IP improves the company’s reputation (56%); registering IP rights reduces the possibility that competitors copy or steal your idea, manufacture and trade goods similar to yours (50% ). Less supported are the views that the company’s reputation provided by IP registration means higher profits (36%) and that the restrictions imposed by IP rights protection hinder technological and economic progress (23%).
Only 14% of respondents answered that their company owns IP rights, and, unfortunately, only 5% of respondents generally know or know very well about the SME fund " Ideas Powered for Business ", 14% have only heard about it, and 65% have never heard of it.
The results of the study show that Latvian entrepreneurs are aware of IP rights, however, businesses are not active in protecting these rights, especially SMEs. The study gives the opportunity to draw the attention of an increasingly large part of the public to the protection of IP rights and the financial support available for it, thus contributing to the improvement of Latvia's business environment as related to the development of the IP field in Latvia.
The full report of the study results can be found here.
The presentation of the research results is available here.
The 2019 study "Entrepreneurs' understanding of industrial property rights" carried out by the Patent Office and the marketing and public opinion research centre "SKDS"
In November 2019, the Patent Office, in cooperation with the marketing and public opinion research centre "SKDS", conducted a study "Entrepreneurs' Understanding of Industrial Property Rights", in order to assess Latvian entrepreneurs’ awareness of the protection of industrial property (IP) rights, their attitude towards violations of these rights, such as malicious copying of products, understanding of the link between IP rights and business development. The study was conducted among 3622 Latvian entrepreneurs.
The study shows that only 28% of Latvian entrepreneurs rate their knowledge of IP protection as good or average, while more than 70% rate it as incomplete. The study concludes that 65% of respondents are aware of the benefits of IP protection, but not all of them use them. At the same time, 63% of respondents admit that registered IP rights increase the company’s value; 52% of respondents believe that registering IP rights reduces the possibility that competitors copy or steal your idea, manufacture and trade goods similar to yours.
It is notable that 77% of respondents admit that timely trademark protection is of importance, and 72% believe that it is also true for designs. 71% of respondents stated that malicious counterfeiting distorts and has a negative impact on fair competition. 10% of entrepreneurs admitted that they had encountered malicious copying of their products.
The study results prove that Latvian entrepreneurs are well informed about IP rights. At the same time, the study gives the opportunity to draw the attention of an increasingly large part of the public to the protection of IP rights, thus contributing to the improvement of Latvia's business environment as related to the development of the IP field in Latvia.
The full report of the study results can be found here.
The presentation of the research results is available here šeit.