Cutting-edge technologies and the protection of intellectual property are a vital lever for advancing competitiveness and for opening up new business opportunities for medium-sized companies in the process and manufacturing industries. This was the message given by Klaus Helmrich, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO Siemens Digital Industries, as he addressed the "Forum of German SME" ("Forum Deutscher Mittelstand") in Stuttgart, southern Germany. The Forum was attended by 500 representatives from numerous well-known German companies in mechanical and plant engineering in order to debate digital strategies and future technologies for small and medium-sized companies. "The midmarket sector has always been characterized by its innovative force. We now need to protect these innovations with new approaches to patenting software and applications, for example," Klaus Helmrich explained.