European companies with intellectual property (IP) rights (trademarks, designs or patents) have higher revenue per employee than companies with no IP rights. Companies with IP rights also pay higher salaries.
That is a finding of a new study of more than 127,000 European businesses carried out by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO).
Companies with intellectual property rights:
- have on average 20% more revenue per employee,
- pay on average 19% higher salaries to employees.
Positive impact greater for small and medium-sized businesses
The results of the study confirm the positive link between intellectual property rights and the economic performance of businesses, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
SMEs with IP rights have almost 68 % more revenue per employee than SMEs with no IP rights.
SMEs make less frequent use of intellectual property rights
Almost 60% of large companies have a patent, a registered design or trademark, against only 9% of SMEs. The study shows that, among other things, SMEs suffer from:
- a lack of knowledge about intellectual property rights,
- the perception that registration procedures are complicated and expensive,
- high costs for enforcing IP rights in the event of a dispute.
Insight into intellectual property for SMEs
Against this background and in view of the importance of SMEs to the economy, BOIP and others are taking steps to address these concerns. It is important that companies be able to protect their innovations and intellectual property more easily. For more information about intellectual property and how it can help your business, use the ‘ideeSCAN’ checklist for businesses.
For Belgium: ideescan.be
For the Netherlands: ideescan.online
Read the full report by the EUIPO and the EPO.