EPO and European Investment Bank survey of companies commercialising new technologies
Innovation has a crucial role to play in enabling competitiveness and economic growth, and it requires significant public and private investment. Companies of all sizes and in all industries are the main drivers of innovation. They face specific challenges when commercialising new technologies and therefore deserve strong policy attention.
That is why the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have decided to carry out a study on how private and public companies in Europe and the US that are innovating in certain technologies bring their products and services to market and create economic value. The focus will be on the growth, business and investment strategies adopted by these companies, the role of patent protection and financing and what obstacles may exist to hold back innovation. We also want to understand how best to support them.
This information will help us to fulfil our commitment to support innovation, competitiveness, economic growth and job creation across Europe as it will offer insights into the needs and constraints that arise when commercialising technologies and so provide a basis for informed and effective policy-making.
The survey is being carried out on EPO's behalf by BERENT Deutschland GmbH. It takes the form of a telephone interview or online questionnaire. Respondents can choose to be surveyed in English, French or German.
The EPO is committed to protecting your privacy and personal data. We will process all data from the survey in accordance with our Data Protection Guidelines, which aim to ensure best practice when handling users' personal data.
Objectives
We are carrying out this survey of European and US patent applicants in order to understand:
- the landscape of innovation in certain technologies in Europe and the US
- the extent of, and potential for, technology commercialisation and business growth
- the role of finance and financing instruments
- the main barriers to growth and what measures could be taken to help overcome them
Methodology
The survey takes the form of a telephone interview or online questionnaire taking about 15 minutes and focusing on the commercialisation of technologies by European and US companies.
Together with BERENT we have selected a random sample of applicants for patents related to certain technologies and ‒ using the names in the latest published patent documents ‒ created a list of survey respondents.
Respondents will be asked about their current and future business activity, how they are financed, what investment plans they have, where they see a role for patent protection and what they consider to be the main obstacles to commercialisation and business growth.
Once the survey has been completed, BERENT will report the results to the EPO in anonymised form. Data will be shared with the EIB in the context of this study and only in a way that does not allow individual responses to be identified. The EPO and the EIB will not receive any personal data and will only receive data in a way that doesn't allow to identify the company you are responding for.
Data will be grouped and analysed on a purely statistical basis. Aggregated results will be reported to senior EPO and EIB management and to the public.
The EPO and the EIB
The European Patent Office is the patent office for Europe. It supports innovation, competitiveness and economic growth across Europe through a commitment to high quality and efficient services delivered under the European Patent Convention.
The European Investment Bank is the bank of the European Union. It is owned by the EU Member States and represents their interests, working closely with other EU institutions to implement EU policy, supporting investment by firms and the public sector throughout the EU and around the world. Together with the European Investment Fund, it makes up the EIB Group.
Frequency
One-off.
Contact
For more information, email chiefeconomist@epo.org.