Latest Joint Report from the European Patent Office and the EU Intellectual Property Office on the Contribution of IP to the European Economy
Jane Lambert It is often said that intellectual property is crucial to the efficient functioning of modern economies but there is much less research to support that assertion than might be supposed. However, some valuable research on the topic has recently been undertaken by the European Patent Office ("EPO") and the European Union Intellectual Property Office ("EUIPO") , In September 2013, those institutions published a joint report entitled Intellectual property rights intensive industries: contribution to economic performance and employment in the European Union . The EPO and EUIPO published an updated report in October 2016 and they have now published their third report. The report identifies 353 IP intensive industries in the EU which employ directly 63 million people and make work for another 21 million in businesses that supply those industries. Those same industries generated output worth €6.6 trillion betwee...