SINGAPORE : Some 200 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are expected to benefit from a $9 million Intellectual Property Management programme.

The programme was launched on Tuesday by SPRING Singapore and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS).

It will help SMEs develop a strategy to create, own, protect and exploit their intellectual property such as their brand, design, trade secrets or customer relations systems.

The programme was announced by Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan during his visit to curry puff retailer Old Chang Kee.

"This programme is specially tailored to SMEs' needs, and it supports SMEs' IP management journey in two phases. The first phase uses IPOS' SCOPE IP diagnostic tool to identify existing and potential intellectual property in the company as well as possible areas of capability development," said Minister Lee.

"The second is the implementation of IP management capabilities, which may include areas such as development of branding and franchising. To encourage more SMEs to embark on this journey, we will defray a portion of the costs involved."

SCOPE IP stands for Strategies for the Creation, Ownership, Protection and Exploitation of IP. It is administered by IPOS.

The tool helps businesses take a holistic approach to assess their IP deployment and management system. - CNA /ls