30/01/2007

European Union. A survey related to the value of intellectual property for businesses was recently published

The Economist Intelligence Unit recently published a survey based on the views of numerous senior executives from European businesses. The document contains interesting conclusions on how EU firms value their intellectual property rights (IPR), not only as a way of protecting their investments in RTD but also as a way of creating additional revenue.

According to the survey, top EU firms believe that, in order to maximise the value of their IPR, it is important to share it with other organisations that can help improve its potential, rather than securing it and keeping it secret. It is therefore important "to strike the right balance between protecting and sharing ideas".

Furthermore, the survey clearly shows that there is a demand for greater harmonisation of IP laws within the EU to effectively protect innovation efforts and there are some concerns about IP enforcement in countries such as China where IP protection is still immature.

Related Links:
Related press release from the Economist Intelligence Unit