The European Union Intellectual Property Office has carried out a study entitled “European citizens and intellectual property: perception, awareness and behavior”. This is an update of the first study on the perception of intellectual property (IP) published in 2013 which also aims to put the results into perspective.
Here we give you some highlights:
- The percentage of Europeans who say they have a “fairly good” understanding of IP increases significantly, but there is a decline in the overall level of understanding of IP, with the proportion of respondents with “very good” understanding decreasing.
- 34% of respondents agree that firms that create a lot of IP contribute much more than others to job creation or growth.
- 67% of Europeans see IP as a pillar of economic stability, with some reservations, especially among younger generations.
- 35% of respondents recognize the role of IP-intensive firms in job creation, although this percentage is slightly lower than in 2013. However, half of Europeans surveyed believe that strict protection of IP could hinder innovation, and more than half feel that IP principles are not adapted to the internet.
