Intellectual Property Management in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been prominent in the world economy, contributing significantly to the generation of jobs. Despite the relevance in the economy, SMEs underutilize the mechanisms of protection and appropriation of intellectual property. In order to gather and synthesize strategies, managerial models and good practices related to the intellectual property management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this article aims to analyze systematically the literature, as well as to identify important aspects and gaps in existing empirical knowledge. For this, 53 articles from periodicals indexed in the scientific bases Web of Science, Scopus and Science Direct were analyzed. It was verified that there is a pattern of management actions in the scope of SMEs with regard to the protection, appropriation and intellectual property management.