In today’s world, where a building a business company’s value is increasingly created by ideas, brands and innovations, protecting intellectual property (IP) 1 has become the foundation for safe and sustainable business development.
It’s no longer just an option for the largest corporations—it’s an everyday need for entrepreneurs who want to build strong, resilient, and profitable companies.
Research conducted in Europe and around the world leaves no doubt: companies that invest in the protection of their patents, trademarks or industrial designs achieve higher revenues , better financial results and create greater value than those that do not.
Moreover, small and medium-sized companies that consciously manage their IP portfolio enjoy even greater benefits than large corporations.
In this article, we will show you specific facts, research results, and examples that clearly prove:
Protecting your intellectual property is an investment that pays off.
Building a business with IP works and the research proves it.
1 Intellectual property rights. The Polish abbreviation is PWI, but IP law is commonly used and I often use this abbreviation.
Large companies know that IP is real capital. Let’s learn from those who are already effectively protecting their rights, building an advantage and securing their future. Let’s not lose our rights – let’s protect them like the biggest ones do!
Source: Intellectual Property Rights and Firm Performance in the EU (EPO & EUIPO, 2025)
Owning IP rights puts European firms ahead
Intellectual property protection is particularly profitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Interestingly, it is SMEs that benefit the most from owning intellectual property rights!
The EPO and EUIPO research showed that:
SMEs registered with IP generate 44% higher revenues per employee than organize your emails using a calendar those without IP
Large companies report a 16% increase in revenue .
Trademarks increase revenues by 40.9% , industrial designs by 29.3% .
Companies registered under Community Designs benefit the most economically .
It is small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that benefit the most from intellectual property protection! This way they stop losing, giving away their IP resources, when awareness changes, new opportunities open up and businesses start to grow.
In other words, a well-protected innovation is a real advantage on the market that you can key indicators for evaluating revenue operations effectiveness also use in your company.
The smarter you protect, the more you gain.
Well-managed intellectual property rights are a simple way to ensure your business grows and remains resilient in changing times.
Source: Intellectual Property Rights and Firm Performance in the EU (EPO & EUIPO, 2025)
Study highlights economic benefits of owning intellectual property rights – especially for small businesses
A strong brand builds company value
Imagine a company whose bfb directory greatest asset is not its factories, offices or equipment, but… its name, brand, trademark .
This is the case with the world’s largest brands, such as:
Apple – the brand value exceeds $500 billion, significantly more than the sum of their physical assets,
Coca-Cola — the logo and brand make up most of the company’s value, even though the factories and production lines themselves are worth a fraction of that amount,
Nike – the famous “Swoosh” and brand recognition are more valuable than all their warehouses and offices combined. Empirical analysis published in HighTech and Innovation Journal (2024) , covering the 100 largest global brands (according to the Interbrand 2021 ranking), confirmed unequivocally:
Investing in building and protecting your brand is not a cost – it is a strategic decision about the future of your company
Source: HighTech and Innovation Journal (2024): “The Impact of Brand Value on Business Performance”
A strong IP portfolio means real business benefits
A meta-analysis of 91 empirical studies published worldwide confirms that strong intellectual property protection brings real economic benefits :
Economic growth : The average impact of IP protection on GDP growth is positive and statistically significant . Better IP protection supports the growth of economies—both developed and developing.
Productivity : Patent and IP protection increases the productivity of companies and industrial sectors, especially where innovation is a key factor for success.
Innovation : Stronger IP protection translates into increased innovation activity, both in the number of patents and the quality of submitted solutions.
Technology diffusion :
Stronger IP rights also encourage the faster spread of technology across countries and companies, which supports overall economic development.
These results show that intellectual property protection is the foundation not only of security, but also of the development and competitive advantage of companies .
Source: “Does intellectual property protection deliver economic benefits? A multi-outcome meta-regression analysis of the evidence” (2022)
If you want to build, check, verify the company’s IP strategy , schedule a strategic meeting . This is a meeting not with one, but with two experts – in the form of an active workshop.