The European Commission Published An Action Plan On Intellectual Property

The European Commission Published An Action Plan On Intellectual Property

The European Commission (EC) published an action plan on intellectual property. Its aim is to ensure that businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, can make the best use of their inventions and creations and to ensure that these inventions and creations benefit the EU economy and society. The Commission clarified that intellectual property is a key driver of economic growth, as it helps companies value intangible assets. Industries benefiting from intellectual property rights account for 93% of exports of goods from the EU. The action plan aims to enable the European creative and innovation industries to maintain a leading position on a global scale and to accelerate Europe's green and digital transformation. The EC plan also addresses the new challenges in this area posed by the corona crisis, in particular the dependence on critical innovations and technologies.

Intangible assets are gaining in importance

According to the EC report, intangible assets such as brands, designs, patents and data are becoming increasingly important in the knowledge economy. Intellectual property-intensive industries account for 45% of total GDP and 93% of total EU exports, while the added value of intellectual property is increasing in most European industrial ecosystems. The number of intellectual property registrations is increasing worldwide as intangible assets play an increasingly important role in the global race for technology leadership. EU Internal Commissioner Thierry Breton recalled that many of the world's leading innovations had been born in Europe, but that businesses were still unable to fully protect their inventions and exploit their intellectual property. "We therefore propose a redesign of the intellectual property system to strengthen Europe's ability to develop next-generation technologies, take account of advances in data and artificial intelligence, enable businesses to rapidly combine their knowledge during the crisis and support Europe on the path to economic recovery and green transformation," Breton said. The action plan focuses on measures in five key areas - improving the protection of intellectual property; support for small and medium-sized enterprises in the use of intellectual property; facilitating the sharing of intellectual property; combating counterfeiting and improving the enforcement of intellectual property rights and, finally, promoting a global level playing field.