In order to show the profound effect of intellectual property rights on economy development for European Union (EU), European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and European Patent Office (EPO) have cooperated to conduct multiple studies on the economic benefits for Europe of trademarks, designs, patents, copyright, geographical indications (GI) and plant variety rights since 2013.In recent days, EUIPO and EPO have released a joint report on IPR development and economic performance after that of 2015. The new edition includes data for all 27 Member States and 127,000 firms in the United Kingdom. This study compares the economic performance and the revenue per employee of firms that own IPRs (patent, trademark and design) with those that do not.According to the data, companies that own IPRs have 163.8% higher number of employees than companies that do not. Companies that own IPRs have 20% higher revenue per employee than companies that do not.Moreover, the most IPR-intensive sectors are information, communication and manufacturing. In Spain, more than 10% of the small and medium-sized enterprises own IPR, similar to France, Poland and the UK. This study also indicates that the small and medium-sized firms shall raise their awareness of IPR protection.
In general, the further challenge for the IP prosecution institutions of EU or around the world is still to make the firms fully utilize their own IPR to promote business development.
