Intellectual property rights and firm performance in Europe: an economic analysis, a recent Report by the EU Intellectual Property Office (EU IPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO), reveals a positive relationship between a company’s Intellectual Property (IP) Rights activity and the likelihood of achieving high growth in subsequent years.
The results of the Report indicate that European companies that own at least one Patent, Registered Design or Trade Mark:
- Generate on average 20% higher revenue per employee than companies that don’t own any of these IP Rights, and
- Pay on average 19% higher wages to their employees than other companies.
In terms of individual IP Rights, Patent ownership indicates the strongest link with a company’s performance when compared with businesses that do not own any IP Rights, illustrated through the following table:
| Type of IP Right | Revenue (per employee) | Wages (salaries) |
| Patents | +36% higher revenue | +53% higher wages |
| Registered Designs | +32% higher revenue | +30% higher wages |
| Registered Trade Marks | +21% higher revenue | +17% higher wages |
Notably, the Report indicates a positive correlation between IP Rights ownership and economic performance that is particularly strong for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Acknowledging the importance of SMEs in the European economy, balanced with the barriers SMEs face when deciding whether to register their IP Rights, the EU IPO and the EPO have already started to take steps to enable SMEs to take full advantage of their innovation and intellectual property.
A noteworthy example is the Ideas Powered for Business SME Fund, a €20million grant scheme created to encourage European SMEs to protect their IP Rights, which allows for a reimbursement in the application costs for 2 services: (i) -75% in IP pre-diagnostic services (IP scan) and (ii) -50% in Trade Mark and/or Design applications at a national, regional (Benelux) and EU level. Interested in the SME Fund? Click here to read our SME Fund article and here to enquire for our services.
Remarkably, Cyprus is 1/9 countries whose companies are most likely to be IP Rights owners, with more than 10% of all SMEs owning at least 1/3 IP Rights. The other countries are: Malta, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Spain, France, Poland and the UK. This indicates the hidden potential for SME growth and profitability through the protection of IP Rights.
Did you know?
While almost 6/10 large companies in Europe own IP Rights, only 9% of the Europe’s SMEs hold a Patent, Registered Design or a Trade Mark!
Our Intellectual Property (IP) Practice Portfolio
Get in touch with us for a consultation relating to the protection of your IP Rights. Our clientele benefits from our in-depth knowledge and experience in handling the entire IP Rights registration process on their behalf.
Our clientele further benefits from tax aspects relating to the protection of their IP Rights, including the sought after Cyprus IP Box Regime; a tax-beneficial regime relating to R&D and taxation in Cyprus.
