The EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) and the EPO (European Patent Office) have published the third edition of their biannual report on the impact that the intensive use of Intellectual Property assets: trademarks, patents, designs and copyrights, among others, have on EU industries.
The methodology of the study starts from a basic methodological premise, that IP-intensive industries are all those with an above-average ownership (of any modality) as compared with other industries in the same sector.
The report for the 2014-2016 biennium is the third in the series which begins with the 2008-2010 report and continues with the 2011-2013 report. This data does not cease to be relevant, because the complexity involved in the process of compiling and the statistical analysis of this type of studies means that, to a certain extent, its conclusions are not unrelated to the last rales of the financial crisis of 2008.
In this sense, and in spite of the above, a robust behaviour is observed in all the indicators analysed and which confirm the general inertia of the industries especially active in IP: these organisations are the ones that contribute the most to the growth of the EU area and obtain a great performance from all the dimensions observed (contribution to GDP, level of employability, salary payments, contribution to exports, etc.)
29.2% of the jobs created and 45% of the GDP of the EU as a whole come from this type of industry. But, as mentioned earlier, these figures show a growth with respect to previous observation periods, even in spite of certain changes introduced in the calculation base by EUROSTAT and which finally end up impacting on the consistency of the historical series of data.
Within these magnitudes, the specific weight acquired by industries linked to the mitigation of the effects of climate change (CCMT’s) and the technologies of the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which comes to us from the hand of “Internet of things“, stands out. Suffice to say that in these sectors the bonus wage received by the employees doubles that of the average in the case of the CCMT’s, and even higher for 4IR.
In short, Intellectual Property is consolidating itself as the epicentre of economic growth in the EU and this shows us that only through R&D and differentiation as an added value will the European economy be able to face the most damaging effects of globalisation. And meanwhile, in Spain, we continue with budgets that have been extended for 2 years and without any deep political commitment to place ourselves “in the head coach of this train that is already passing through our station”.
Article by Joan Salvà.
