EUIPO and EPO study highlights the economic benefits of intellectual property rights for EU companies

EUIPO and EPO study highlights the economic benefits of intellectual property rights for EU companies

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) recently released the results of the study “Intellectual Property Rights and Firm Performance in the European Union”. The aim of the research is to provide information on how European companies use intellectual property rights (IPR) and to identify the distinctive characteristics of companies that hold IPR compared to those that do not protect these rights. According to the study, organizations that own IPR generate higher revenue per employee, offer higher salaries and create more jobs compared to companies that do not register these rights.

Based on data from 119,000 companies in the 27 Member States of the European Union, collected over 10 years (2013-2022), the analysis showed significant benefits, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Innovative creations are outperforming traditional factors of production, with IPR playing a strategic role in the protection and commercialization of intangible assets. The study used data from the ORBIS commercial database, as well as from the databases of the European trademark and patent offices, EUIPO and PATSTAT. The analysis combined descriptive statistics, which examined the size and sector of companies, with econometric techniques to assess the relationship between IPR ownership and the economic performance of organizations.

The study revealed that companies that own IPR have 23.8% higher revenue per employee than companies that do not own these rights. Large companies show a 16% increase in revenue per employee when compared to companies that do not have IPR, while SMEs register a significant growth of 44%. When analyzing the impact by type of IPR, it was found that companies with patents have 28.75% higher revenue per employee than those without, followed by those with trademarks (23.3%) and industrial designs (29.3%). In addition, companies with IPR employ, on average, 117.5% more staff and offer approximately 22% higher salaries. Among the types of IPR, companies with patents pay the highest salaries, with an average 43.3% higher, followed by those with industrial designs (24.8%) and trademarks (20.9%).

The study’s statistics show that less than 10% of SMEs protect any type of IPR, while 50% of large companies have at least one registration. This disparity is maintained when analyzing the different types of IPR: 12.7% of large companies hold patents, compared to just 1.1% of SMEs. The same is true of trademarks, with 46.1% of large companies holding registrations, compared to 9.2% of SMEs. The pattern is repeated for industrial designs, with 10.7% of large companies registering them, compared to just 1.1% of SMEs.

Large companies also tend to combine national and European registrations, while SMEs concentrate mostly on national registrations. For example, 50% of large companies combine national and European registrations, while only 28% of SMEs adopt this strategy. In addition, large companies are more likely to register combinations of IPR (patents, trademarks and industrial designs), while SMEs generally seek protection for just one type of right.

As for the volume of registrations per type of IPR, large companies have significantly more. On average, these companies hold 23.3 European patents, while SMEs have only 4. For industrial designs, the average number is 52.5 registrations in large companies, compared to 10.1 in SMEs. In the case of national trademarks, large companies register an average of 15.9 trademarks, while SMEs have an average of 3.5 registrations. The survey also analyzed the sectoral distribution of IPR, based on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE). The sectors with the highest concentration of IPR include communications, manufacturing, water and waste supply and treatment, and technical and scientific activities.

As far as econometric analysis is concerned, the study reinforces, through statistical modeling, the relationship between holding intellectual property rights and companies’ financial performance. The results confirm that companies that own IPR have better economic performance, with an even more significant impact for SMEs than for large companies. The analysis shows that the use of IPR, especially by SMEs, represents a significant competitive differentiator and can be a key factor for growth and innovation in the European market. Although the results point to a positive correlation between the possession of IPR and the financial performance of companies, it is important to note that other factors, such as the quality of management, can also play a relevant role in this relationship.

Finally, the document emphasizes that the research covers a broader database than previous similar studies, offering a robust benchmark for understanding the characteristics of EU companies that hold IPR, serving as a valuable guide for public policy decisions in the area.

The study can be accessed via the link: EUIPO and EPO study

Note: For quick release, this English version is provided by automated translation without human review.