Joint Study From EPO and EUIPO: Patents, Trademarks and Startup Finance

European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) jointly published a new study focusing on how innovative startups obtain financing to develop their ideas into new products for the marketplace. It examines how intellectual property (IP) rights can help the providers of initial financing to exit successfully by selling to another company or going public with a stock market flotation.

The study shows that, on average, startups that apply for trademarks and patents rights prior to their initial seed or early growth stages are up to 10.2 times more likely to successfully secure funding from investors.

According to the findings, on average, 29% of European startups have filed an IP right, but there are notable variances among industry sectors. Biotechnology stands out as the most IP-intensive sector, with 65% of startups using patents or registered trademarks. Other IP-intensive sectors include science and engineering (with 25% patents users and 38% trademark users), healthcare (20% using patents and 40% using trademarks), and manufacturing (20% using patents and 36% using trademarks).

The full study is available here.