Brussels, 30/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - A recent study on intellectual property rights (IPRs) highlights the contribution they make to Europe's economic dynamism. Almost 40% of economic activity stems from IPR-intensive sectors.
The study was presented to the European Commission by the European Patent office (EPO) and the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) in the presence of Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier. Stating that the observations in the study would underpin the Commission's evidence-based policy-making, Barnier was struck by the fact that more than one third of jobs in Europe (59 million jobs) are indirectly dependent on IPR-intensive industries and also by the high added value of these jobs where average remuneration is 40% higher than in other industries.
IPR-intensive industries include the manufacture of power-driven hand tools (patents), the manufacture of basic pharmaceutical products (trademarks), the manufacture of watches and clocks (design), operation of dairies and cheese-making (geographical indications) and book publishing (copyright).
Benoit Battistelli, EPO President, said that this study “shows that the benefit of patents and other IPRs is not just economic theory”. He highlights that “especially for SMEs, but also other research centres and universities, patents often open the door to capital and business partners”.
The commissioner also noted that a major step had been taken with the agreement to make the European patent, which is ten times more expensive than its American equivalent, more competitive. (MD/transl.fl)