On 13 April 2023, INVESTMED held the first of three consultation sessions on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) with entrepreneurs to discuss the needs, challenges, and opportunities for MSMEs. The session was organised by INVESTMED partner Beyond Group in Lebanon.

The INVESTMED project aims to support entrepreneurs in Egypt, Lebanon, and Tunisia in building their businesses in the green, blue and CCI industries. The project also focuses on building capacity and knowledge enhancement around Intellectual Property Rights, given that many of the ideas are rooted in innovation. In this framework, 3 IPR consultation and review meetings are being held in order to support Intellectual Property offices and organisations to undertake IPR law and regulation reviews in the participating countries having a positive impact on policy development for IPR protection.

This consultation session is the first of a series of consultation meetings to engage INVESTMED entrepreneurs and encourage them to share the challenges they have found in the registration process, the opportunities that registration provides, and what can be done to make the process smoother.

The main objectives of the consultation session with entrepreneurs are to:

• Discuss IPR from an entrepreneurial perspective.
• Understand the participants’ perception of national IP laws and regulations.
• Identify gaps and limitations in terms of IP
• Develop recommendations on how to develop a better IPR ecosystem in the country and the region

The session was joined by five entrepreneurs (four in person and online) and an expert. In the two hour session, they discussed their specific challenges in navigating IPR, such as registering trademarks in several countries to access international markets, difficulties in the particular system in Lebanon, and the importance of IPR to the success of their business. They also then had the chance to ask the expert questions specific to their business.