UK companies lose out on IP revenues
The overwhelming majority of UK companies undervalue their intellectual property, denying themselves millions of pounds in untapped revenues, a new survey has found.
The 300 companies, surveyed by Taylor Nelson Sofres for KPMG, put the average value of IP at £4.17m a year.
But less than one-in-third of UK companies commercialise their intellectual property, the survey revealed, with only 34% of UK company’s discussing the potential for IP revenue at board meetings.
The UK, however, is not that far off the rest of Europe where overall leveraging of IP is low – an average of just 40% – with just 28% of corporate boardrooms across the continent viewing it as a serious issue. This, despite nearly all companies reporting some form of infringement of their IP rights.
David Eastwood, Head of KPMG’s intellectual property services confirmed this missed opportunity: ‘Across the board, corporates are failing to exploit IP commercialisation opportunities actively enough.
‘In times of economic pressure it is more important than ever to maximise every income stream and IP is no exception.’
The survey revealed that Germany was most successful at exploiting IP opportunities, with 57% of companies commercialising this side of their business.