IP Economics at OHIM. Present and future

Transcription

1 IP Economics at OHIM Present and future Marc RICHTER, Analyst with OHIM s Chief Economist IPR Policy for Growth - Economic Seminars on the Single Market Brussels, September 25th, 2012

2 Agenda IP research: background OHIM: entry, projects, challenges Preliminary conclusions

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4 Economics of trade marks the short version P Supply 8 Equilibrium Demand In this world, there is no place for trade marks... Q

5 But in the real world... Source: BrandZ survey 2012

6 Traditional focus: patents Patents are seen as sexy (great inventors of the past etc.). They are considered more hard core as indicators of innovation even though a large proportion of patents are worthless. More recently, an interest in trade marks as well Mainly looking at the relationship between trade marks and innovation, particularly in service industries. Almost no research on designs, copyrights and GIs Exception: Designs & copyrights priority for UKIPO in Additional challenge posed by credibility issues with industry group publications on copyright. Major study published by USPTO in April 2012 Quantifies impact of IP-intensive industries on the US economy Includes patents, trademarks and designs 35% of US GDP and 28% of employment can be traced to IP-intensive industries

7 Trade marks: two main lines of investigation Relationship to innovation: Are firms that register trade marks more innovative than those which do not? Impact on national economy: Do firms that register trade marks provide more jobs, at better wages, and faster growth than those which do not? What is the overall size of the IPR sector? Focus of USPTO study

8 Solving information asymmetry and signal quality For most products in a modern economy, buyers have no way of examining the product before buying it. The brand acts as a quality signal and enables the brand owner to charge a higher price. Differentiate one s product from competing products By packing the available product space with brands, the firm reduces opportunities for competitors to enter the market. Firms can also use branding to increase market power in downstream markets. Appropriate returns on innovation Trade marks are a way to capture the returns on innovation, along with other forms of IP such as patents, designs or copyrights. The different forms of IP rights are seen as complementary.

9 Trade Mark Incentives (Greenhalgh, Rogers, Schautschick & Sena, July 2011) Questions raised and answers given Is trade marking associated with higher productivity? Yes, associated with higher productivity, but mainly for younger and smaller firms. Do trade mark active firms have higher employment? Yes, there s a significant effect of trade mark activity on employment: a firm that is TM active has 20% more jobs than a similar firm that is not TM active. Do trade mark active firms pay higher wages? Yes, there s a small but positive effect on average wages of trade mark activity (0.7%) and patent activity (1.3%) Do trade mark active firms have higher growth rates? Trade mark active firms grow about 6% faster than average.... the observed positive associations indicate that trade mark active firms are different in important and valuable ways from other firms.

10 Når viden bliver til aktiver ( When knowledge becomes an asset ) (Danish Patent and Trademark Office together with Danmarks Statistik, 2008) Finds that IPR active firms in Denmark have higher growth and employment than other firms (similar to the UK IPO findings) but the effect is concentrated in certain sectors. The market value of R&D, patents and trademarks (Sandner & Block, Research Policy, June 2011) Uses CTM data coupled with patent data and other data sources to estimate the impact on the market value of the firm of owning a CTM. Finds a strong positive impact, equivalent to about 13.5 million per CTM.

11 The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in the UK Market Sector (Farooqui, Goodridge & Haskel, July 2011) Examine the role of IPR in investment and productivity growth. Type of IPR Investment (2008), billion Total intangibles 139 IPR share of intangibles 65 Total tangibles 104 Total private sector investment 243 Conclusions: (1) Investment in IPR-protected assets is an important part of overall investment by UK firms. (2) IPR-protected assets are a significant contributor to labour productivity growth in the UK between 1990 and 2008: at 10.6% almost as much as IT (11.1%)

12 Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus (Doms, Graham, Bond, Hancock, Burston, Langdon & Yu, March 2012) Examining sectors with firms of intensive IPR usage in the US economy Conclusions: Sectors with firms of intensive IPR usage account for 34.8 % of the entire US economy, and for 60.7 % of goods exports have recovered better from the crisis: 1.6 % rise of direct employment between 2010 and 2011, compared with 1.0 % in other sectors pay salaries which are about 42 % above the average of other sectors (effect proportional to average years of employee education) The bulk of employment and value added correspond to the 60 trademarkintensive industries, which is a reflection of the nearly ubiquitous use of trademarks and logos in the marketplace.

13 New trademark registration as an indicator of innovation: results of an explorative study of Benelux trademark data (Flikkema, de Man & Wolters, Research Memorandum , VU University Amsterdam) Key findings: High correlation between trade mark activity and innovation, especially for smaller firms and especially for service innovation; Trade mark activity captures innovative activity that is not reflected in other IPRs. Are trademark counts a valid indicator of innovation? Results of an in depth study of Benelux trademarks filed by SMEs (Flikkema & de Man, Industry & Innovation, under review) Additional contribution: Further discussion of TM counts as innovation indicator, particularly for SMEs

14 TM registration motives by importance: Benelux TMs, via TM Innovation Survey I (TIS-1) (Flikkema & de Man, under review)

15 Principal components of registration motives in Benelux trade marks (via TIS-1) (Flikkema & de Man, under review)

16 References to innovation in Benelux trade marks (via TIS-1) (Flikkema & de Man, under review)

17 Combination of Benelux trade marks with other IPRs (via TIS-1) (Flikkema & de Man, under review)

18 Benelux TMs: filing by stage of innovation process (via TIS-1) (Flikkema et al., 2010)

19 OHIM: entry, projects, challenges

20 OHIM: entry, projects, challenges OHIM s entry into IP Economics May 2011 Autumn 2011 Spring 2012 Formal establishment of economic analysis as strategic objective, Nathan Wajsman appointed as Chief Economist Preliminary literature review completed, discussion of IP Economics work programme with stakeholders, TIS-2 support agreement with VU University Amsterdam IP Economics collaboration agreement with EPO in MoU context, kick-off of joint IP impact study (key priority) Summer 2012 Start of firm-level IP impact & TIS-2 data collection Autumn 2012 Announcement of OHIM reorganisation as from Oct 1 st : Economics team placed in EU IP Observatory

21 OHIM: entry, projects, challenges 21

22 OHIM: entry, projects, challenges OHIM study of IP impact on EU economy Similar to the US study, we seek to document the impact of IP as a job and growth creator in Europe. IPR included: patents, trademarks, designs, copyright, Geographical Indications Major input to the Observatory raising awareness of IP project Joint project with EPO in the framework of OHIM/EPO MoU Also participation/support from UK IPO, OECD, Eurostat USPTO has agreed to be an observer and has provided methodological information related to their own study Interim report Spring 2013, final report end of 2013

23 OHIM: entry, projects, challenges Methodology: summary Industry and firm-level analysis for trademarks, patents and designs Industry-level analysis for copyright and Geographical Indications Basic questions to be answered: How many people are employed in IP-intensive industries, directly and indirectly? How much value-added (GDP) is created in those industries? Ceteris paribus, do IP-intensive firms in Europe create more jobs and pay better wages than other firms?

24 OHIM: entry, projects, challenges Firm-level analysis for trademarks, designs and patents Merge data from OHIM, EPO, National Offices with commercial database ORBIS containing economic information on 20 million European companies. Result: database containing firm-level data on IPR use, economic performance, employment and wages. Analysis on the firm level of relationship between IPR use and employment and economic performance. Industry-level analysis Similar to USPTO approach. Complements the firm-level analysis and makes the results more reliable. For copyright: use of WIPO methodology which has identified certain industries as copyright-intensive. For GIs: analysis based on information obtained from DG AGRI and other sources.

25 OHIM: entry, projects, challenges Steps to date Database matching workshop at EPO in March 2012 Participation from EPO, OHIM, OECD, UK IPO. Took decision to select the ORBIS database and on various methodological issues. Literature review An extensive review of the academic literature is currently in progress by Professor Federico Munari from the University of Bologna. Final review to be provided to OHIM in October. At the same time, a literature review on copyrights is being carried out by OHIM. Pilot on copyright A pilot study applying the WIPO methodology to Eurostat industry data was carried out in August, and additional tasks and data requirements have been identified as a result. Follow-up meeting on database matching at OHIM in October To review the results of the initial data matching efforts involving the ORBIS database and OHIM data.

26 Preliminary conclusions

27 Preliminary conclusions Trade marks and other forms of IPR are important to the European economy. There is a general positive relationship between trade mark activity and innovation, particularly in the service sector, and in smaller firms. There is a general positive relationship between trade mark activity and firm performance. There is a lot of research still to be done!

28 (+34) (infocentre) (+34) (personal extension) Marc Richter Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) Avenida de Europa, Alicante Spain