The European Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office conducted a joint study analyzing the impact of patents, design rights and trademarks on firms. Interestingly, the study finds that firms with patents, design rights and trademarks pay more to employees and generate more revenue per employee than those firms without those rights. Notably, firms with patents outperform firms with only design rights or trademarks in both areas: employee pay and employee generated revenue. Interestingly, firms with combined trademarks and design rights, or combined patents and trademarks, or combined patents, trademarks and design rights, outperform firms only with patents in revenue generated per employee.
The Executive Summary notes:
The positive association between IPR ownership and economic
performance is particularly strong for SMEs. At the same time, less than 9% of
SMEs in the sample own one of the three IP rights included in the study. The
reasons for the low uptake are explored in the EUIPO survey of European SMEs
(EUIPO, 2019). This study (as well its earlier edition from 2015) indicated
that barriers faced by SMEs include lack of knowledge about IPRs, a perception
that registration procedures are complex and costly, and the high cost of
enforcement of those rights, a particular burden for SMEs (EUIPO, 2017). Given
this, and the importance of SMEs in the European economy, the EPO and the EUIPO
are taking steps as IP offices to address those concerns so as to enable
European SMEs to take full advantage of their innovation and intellectual
property, in the context of the EPO’s Strategic Plan 2023, the EUIPO Strategic
Plan 2025 and the European Commission’s SME strategy formulated in early 2020
(EC, 2020).
The study may be found, here.
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