2023-10-17 17:11:29
It obviously pays off for young companies and start-ups in Europe to protect their inventions and ideas through patents and trademark rights. This is shown by a current study prepared jointly by the European Patent Office (EPO) and the EU Trademark Office (EUIPO). According to this, it is on average more than ten times more likely for local start-ups in the founding phase and early growth phase to obtain appropriate financing than for companies that do not have such rights. If the start-ups then decide on intellectual property rights valid across Europe instead of just nationally, it will be even easier for the young companies to secure funds, according to the study.
“Intangible assets now account for the majority of a company’s value,” said João Negrão from the EU Trademark Office. Formal intellectual property rights, such as trademarks, are not only legal protection for investments in intangible assets, “but also the key to financing and cooperation.” This is particularly important for start-up companies, “which typically have few assets in the early stages other than their intellectual capital,” he said. However, it is very time-consuming and often takes several years for a company to register a property right and then have it granted.
Complex and long process
According to the study, on average only 29 percent of European start-ups have registered appropriate intellectual property rights for their ideas. There are again big differences between the individual sectors: In biotechnology, almost half of the newly founded companies have patents or trademarks. In the fields of science and technology, around a quarter of young European companies have a patent and around 40 percent have a trademark. The healthcare and manufacturing industries are also mentioned, in which every fifth company has a patent.
For the study, the EPO and the EU Trademark Office compared national and European patent and trademark applications with data from the Crunchbase portal, which collects corporate and economic information. The aim of the study authors was to obtain data on the connection between intellectual property of start-ups and their financing situation. For example, the authorities have already prepared analyzes on the question of the relationship between intellectual property rights and financial indicators such as sales and growth of companies.
The current analysis shows major differences in the use of intellectual property rights within Europe: Finland and France lead the ranking with 42 percent of start-ups each having registered an intellectual property right. This is followed by Germany and Austria, each with 40 percent of young companies, as well as Italy (39 percent), Norway (37 percent), Sweden and Denmark (34 percent each).
Inge Kloepfer Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 8 Barbara Schäder Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 5 Oliver Schmale, Stuttgart Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 33 FAZ authors Published/Updated: ,
Biotechnology start-ups are particularly active in this country: 72 percent of young companies register at least one intellectual property right. With a good 57 percent, the manufacturing industry takes second place among start-ups that use intellectual property rights. Almost half of the companies have registered a trademark and almost 30 percent have registered a patent. The results are similar in the areas of science and technology.
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