On April 29th, members of the EUIPO’s Ideas Powered for Business Network—a vibrant and experienced coalition of innovation and business support organisations—gathered at the EUIPO headquarters in Alicante for their Annual Network Event themed “IP Driving European Competitiveness.”
Inspired by the European Commission’s Competitiveness Compass, the Network agreed on a set of important conclusions aimed at closing Europe’s innovation gap with global economic powers like the US and China. Our joint paper, which has been submitted to the European Commission in early June, underscores the urgent need for a fundamental reform of Europe’s innovation lifecycle, from empowering researchers to commercialise ideas to mobilising public investments and removing barriers for startups and scaleups to grow.
Key takeaways include:
- Unlocking innovation through better IP utilisation: Intellectual Property (IP) plays a critical role in boosting startup and SME performance, attracting investment, and supporting access to venture capital. Yet, IP remains underutilised across Europe.
- Inclusive access and education: Improving IP system access for startups, scaleups, and SMEs, while addressing gender and demographic gaps, alongside embedding IP awareness in entrepreneurship programmes.
- Enhancing IP enforcement and commercialisation: Strengthening tools and mechanisms to protect innovation and creativity, supporting technology transfer offices and licensing strategies, and adapting frameworks to emerging technologies such as AI, green tech, and biotech.
- Innovative financing models: Developing standardised IP valuation methods, creating IP investment platforms, and enabling IP-related costs as eligible under EU financing programmes.
- Simplifying and strengthening the support ecosystem: Coordinating efforts across national IP offices and business support actors to create a coherent IP services landscape for SMEs.
The signatories, including Eurocrowd, are committed to assisting the European Commission and EUIPO in advancing these proposals to help the EU meet the ambitions of the Competitiveness Compass. Together, they aim to unlock the full potential of Europe’s innovation and business ecosystem through collaboration, knowledge sharing, and targeted policy action.
