The majority of UK companies (71%) say they have no intellectual property (IP) to protect. Those that do are most likely to protect it using trademarking or copyright.
The details
How do companies protect their intellectual property?
71% of UK companies say they have no IP to protect.
This figure may point to a lack of understanding among businesses about what constitutes IP and the importance of securing it.
Those companies that have protected their IP in the past three years most commonly did so using trademarks (15%) or copyright (16%).
Larger companies report the highest amount of activity by far when it comes to IP protection – more than twice the levels of smaller businesses – with 46% using trademarks and 47% using copyright in the past three years.
How many patents have UK companies applied for?
Just over a quarter (26%) of companies who had used patents had only applied for one in the past three years. 21% had applied for an average of one every year.