The Role of Intellectual Property in Developing a Knowledge-Based Society

A long-time dominant position of protective features in the intellectual property (IP) rights has been neutralized by their commercializing possibilities. Patents, trademarks and other forms of IP are increasingly being seen as trading assets rather than protection agents. The economic approach to intellectual property emphasizes the material value of intellectual property, which can be appropriated only if that property is used economically, regardless of its actual legal protection status. National institutions dealing with IP rights need to have a continuous service-oriented approach with developing new and specialized services to facilitate the needs of societies which tend to base their competitiveness on the strength of knowledge they possess. The process of transformation to a knowledge-based economy demands that companies fully understand and take advantage of the IP system, which is where business support institutions can provide assistance. A contribution to the increase in the use of the IP system by Serbian companies in recent years can be attributed to the introduction of new services by the Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Serbia.