2019 EPO-EUIPO OBSERVATORY STUDY ON IPR INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN THE EU

The EUIPO and EPO have released the third edition of their “Intellectual property rights intensive industries and economic performance in the European Union” study. This joint EUIPO - EPO study is the third in a series of economic studies revealing the contribution of IPR-intensive industries which are making an above-average use of trade marks, designs, patents, copyright, geographical indications and plant variety rights to economic growth and employment in the EU. The Study considers the period 2014-16.

Here are some of the relevant findings:

• IPR-intensive industries account for most of the EU's trade in goods and services with the other regions of the world (81%).
• The EU as a whole had an overall trade surplus in IPR-intensive industries of approximately EUR 182 billion in 2016, counterbalancing a small deficit in non-IPR intensive trade.
• Industries making intensive use of patents employ some 24 million people and generate 16% of the EU’s total GDP.
• Design-intensive industries account for 30.7 million direct jobs and contribute 16.2% of the EU’s total GDP. Exports in this sector generated a trade surplus of over EUR 66 billion in 2016.
• Industries that make intensive use of trade marks contribute 37% to the EU’s GDP and support 46.7 million jobs. Those industries also pay wages that are 48% higher than industries that do not use IPR.

A copy of the Study, the executive summary and infographics, can be accessed via the following webpage.