This book identifies the potential of intellectual property as a competitive asset for Latin American firms. The authors employ a cognitive approach that involves identifying why small firms are reluctant to register patents, resorting rather to alternative IP competitive strategies. This, in turn, results in the undercapitalization of intellectual assets, thus creating hurdles for the development of capital venture markets. Using new data gathered from highly innovative SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean, the authors bring a fresh cognitive approach towards understanding the institutional role of intellectual property, and outline various new policy recommendations.


Ignacio De Leon is a leading international authority on antitrust policy in emerging markets. Currently, he leads programs for Innovation promotion in Central America, IP management in the Caribbean, as well as regulation and competition policies in digital industries, including sharing economies and blockchain in South America. He is also a start-up entrepreneur developer in the crowdfunding industry (DirecTo) and the digital gaming industry (Superfanatico). Ignacio holds a PhD and an LLM from the University of London (UCL and QMC).Jose Fernandez Donoso is Research Professor at Universidad del Desarrollo School of Economics and Business (Chile). He has worked as a research consultant for private sector development projects for the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and the World Intellectual Property Organization. He has advised government councils and international organizations in productivity and competitiveness policies, antitrust, and international regulations for intellectual property rights.. Jose was the keynote speaker for WIPO’s 2016 international innovation seminar in Switzerland. He has presented his research in international conferences in Beijing, Singapore, Philadelphia, and across Latin America. Jose holds a PhD and MA in economics from Georgetown University.