On 13 April, the European Union Intellectual Property Office – EUIPO published a landmark report on IP-backed finance in Europe, providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of play and future perspectives. The report is closely aligned with EUIPO’s Strategic Plan 2030, which aims to position intellectual property (IP) as a central pillar of Europe’s innovation ecosystem and to strengthen the continent’s ability to transform research and innovation into global business success. It highlights a persistent challenge in Europe emphasised in the 2024 Draghi and Letta reports: while the region excels in generating innovative ideas and research outputs, the process of bringing these innovations to market and scaling them within private enterprises remains limited.
Despite their importance, IP assets remain underutilised in Europe as collateral in financial transactions. As a result, many innovative SMEs and startups face barriers when attempting to leverage their IP to access finance, limiting their growth potential and competitiveness. Addressing this gap is essential to ensure that European innovation is not only created but also effectively financed, developed, and commercialised.
Beyond providing a structured analysis of the obstacles, the report identifies 18 policy actions across three main pillars – improving access to bank credit, strengthening IP valuation practices, and facilitating access to non-bank financing – underlying how structural and interconnected barriers require a coherent and system-wide response rather than isolated measures.
To guide implementation, the report encapsulates these actions into five strategic priorities: improving IP disclosure to increase visibility, developing standardised and credible valuation methods, building trust in IP-backed lending through risk-sharing mechanisms, strengthening data infrastructure to better assess risk and performance, and enhancing coordination among stakeholders across Member States. These priorities, designed to be mutually reinforcing and immediately actionable, form the foundation of a functional European IP-backed finance system. The report also highlights the urgency of reform in light of the ongoing development of the Savings and Investment Union, which is expected to mobilise significant long-term capital across Europe and requires a robust framework to effectively channel investment into innovation.
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