Country

Italian companies led on trade mark applications with an average of over 2.5 filings per company. That indicates a strong culture of brand protection. 

Danish companies led on patent applications with an average of over 1.5 filings per company. That indicates a strong focus on research and technological development.

Figure 3 presents the distribution of patents and trade marks filed across countries. Variations are significant across European countries. Companies based in Italy, Denmark, and Finland were more likely than average to have such applications. 

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Key statistics

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15%

of Italian PE/VC backed companies have filed for at least 1 patent and 1 trade mark between 2007 and the first half of 2023

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22%

of Danish PE/VC backed companies have filed for at least 1 patent between 2007 and the first half of 2023

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32%

of Finnish PE/VC backed companies have filed for at least 1 trade mark between 2007 and the first half of 2023

 

Figure 3: Number of companies and share of companies filing for IP rights, by country

 
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Note: Total number of EU27 companies in the sample is 56,042 between 2007 and the first half of 2023. The chart above represents the number of companies filing for IP rights per country, and then the share of companies having at least one patent filing, trade mark filing, or both.

 

As evidenced in Figure 4, Italy led both in trade mark filings, with companies averaging over 2.5 applications per company, and in holding both patents and trade marks, suggesting a strong brand protection culture. Denmark led in patent filings, with companies averaging almost 1.5 applications per company, indicating a robust emphasis on innovation and technological advancement.

 

Figure 4: Average IPR filings per company, by country

 
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Note: Total number of EU27 companies in the sample is 56,042 between 2007 and the first half of 2023. The chart above represents the average number of IPR filings per company, by country.