Companies with intellectual property (IP) rights 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 link with economic performance
The results confirm the positive link between ownership of IP rights and economic performance: revenue per employee is 55% higher for companies that are holders of IP rights, compared to those that are not.
The positive link between ownership of IP rights and economic performance is particularly strong for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs with IP rights have almost 68 % more revenue per employee than SMEs with no IP rights.
Substantial difference between large companies and SMEs
Whereas almost six out of ten large companies in Europe are holders of IP rights, only 9% of European SMEs have a patent, a registered design or trademark. The study shows that, among other things, SMEs suffer from a lack of knowledge about IP rights, the perception that registration procedures are complicated and expensive, and the high costs that come with enforcing IP rights, which is a particular burden for SMEs.
Greater 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 SMEs be able to protect their innovations and intellectual property more easily.
The ‘ideeSCAN’ is one way to give entrepreneurs insight into the possibilities open to them:
For Belgium: ideescan.be
For the Netherlands: ideescan.online
Read the full report by the EUIPO and the EPO