EUIPO Publishes Study on IP-Backed Finance, Calls for Policy Reform to Unlock €580 Billion for EU SMEs

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) published a major study on April 13, 2026, examining structural barriers that prevent EU small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from accessing financing by leveraging their intellectual property as collateral. The report concludes with a set of policy recommendations designed to unlock what EUIPO estimates could amount to up to €580 billion in previously inaccessible innovation financing across the European Union.

The study was conducted as part of the EU’s recently launched Savings and Investment Union (SIU) — a policy package introduced by the European Commission in 2025 to redirect private capital more efficiently toward innovation, competitiveness, and long-term investment across the single market. The SIU seeks to address longstanding fragmentation in EU capital markets by promoting deeper integration, expanding access to venture capital, and broadening financing instruments for growth-stage companies. IP-backed finance is identified as a significant untapped component of this agenda.

EUIPO’s study identifies several interconnected structural barriers that have consistently prevented SMEs from using IP assets — patents, trademarks, copyright, and trade secrets — as collateral in financing transactions. First, the absence of standardized IP valuation methodologies across EU member states creates fundamental uncertainty for lenders. Financial institutions attempting to assess IP as collateral face widely divergent approaches to valuation depending on the jurisdiction, making credit decisions difficult to underwrite consistently.

Second, the legal frameworks governing IP-backed security interests vary substantially across member states. The enforceability of IP collateral in insolvency proceedings, the mechanics of granting and perfecting security interests in IP rights, and the procedural rules governing priority among creditors all differ in ways that make cross-border IP-backed lending structurally complex. A financial institution operating in multiple EU markets cannot apply uniform underwriting standards where the underlying legal frameworks are materially inconsistent.

Third, the market for financial products designed specifically around IP as primary collateral remains underdeveloped. Mainstream lending instruments, guarantee schemes, and securitization vehicles are largely calibrated to tangible assets. IP-intensive SMEs — which may hold valuable patent portfolios or brand assets but limited fixed property — find themselves systematically underserved relative to their economic contribution.

The EUIPO’s estimate of €580 billion represents the potential volume of financing that could flow to EU SMEs if these structural barriers were addressed. The figure reflects the aggregate estimated value of IP assets held by EU SMEs that could, under an appropriately designed institutional framework, serve as collateral for credit facilities. As IP-intensive industries account for a disproportionately large share of EU economic output and employment — a pattern documented in EUIPO’s annual IP contribution reports — the credit gap carries implications not merely for individual firms but for the EU’s broader industrial and innovation policy.

The report’s policy recommendations focus on three main areas. The first is the development of a harmonized, EU-wide framework for IP asset valuation — a common set of standards and methodologies that lenders, guarantee institutions, and investors could apply consistently when assessing IP as collateral. The second is legislative harmonization to align member state laws on security interests in IP rights, insolvency treatment of IP collateral, and enforcement mechanisms. The third is the expansion of public guarantee instruments through the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group and EU guarantee programs to partially underwrite default risk associated with IP-backed lending, lowering the risk premium that currently makes such transactions uneconomical for private lenders.

EUIPO’s remit formally covers EU trademark and design registration, but the office has increasingly positioned itself as a research institution on the economics of IP. Its annual IP Scoreboards document the contribution of IP-intensive industries to EU employment and value added, and form the analytical backdrop for the current study. The focus on financing reflects recognition that the value of IP assets is often stranded — formally recognized but functionally inaccessible as a financial resource for the companies that hold them.

The full study is available at the EUIPO official website. Detailed coverage is also available at IPWatchdog (April 13, 2026).