The European Patent Office and EUIPO have published a new study on patents, trade marks and start-up finance.

Among the main findings are:

• On average, 29% of European starts-ups have filed registered IP rights.
• Biotechnology is by far the most IP-intensive sector, with nearly half of start-ups using patents or trade marks.
• Start-ups increasingly make use of IP rights as they grow, with a strong focus on European IP rights at all growth stages.
• The filing of patents and trade marks at the seed or early growth stage is associated with a higher likelihood of subsequent venture capital (VC) funding. This effect is particularly important at the early stage, with a 4.3 times higher likelihood of funding for start-ups that filed trade marks, and a 6.4 times higher likelihood of funding for start-ups that filed patents. Start-ups that filed both trade marks and patents show the highest likelihood of funding at both the seed and early stages.
• The filing of European patents and trade marks is associated with an even higher likelihood of subsequent VC funding for start-ups.
• The filing of patents and/or trade marks is associated with a more than twice higher likelihood of successful exit for investors. The highest likelihood of Initial Public Offering or acquisition is observed for start-ups that filed both patents and trade marks.

The report is based on analysis of IP filing and economic data.

You can download the full report and the Executive Summary on EUIPO’s website here, form where the illustration is taken.