EUIPO, EC, EIF, AECM plan next steps for promoting IP-backed finance in Europe

Photo by Antoine Schibler on Unsplash

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has committed to publishing a comprehensive report on IP-backed finance in the coming months, João Negrão, Executive Director of the organisation, confirmed at the end of September2025 following a major meeting at the EUIPO HQ.

That meeting saw senior representatives of the EUIPO, the European Commission (EC), the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the European Association of Guarantee Institutions (AECM) discuss the challenges and opportunities of IP-backed finance as a solution to the SME funding gap facing innovative European companies.

João Negrão said in a post on LinkedIn that the event allowed for “a critical discussion on how IP can support SME competitiveness and help close Europe’s innovation gap.”  He added: “The challenge before us is clear: How can we ensure IP fulfils its potential as a business tool for financing European SMEs?”

He explained that the EUIPO sees “the development of reliable, standardised IP valuation methods” as a key step which is already underway. “Our upcoming report on IP-backed finance will outline practical tools and policy recommendations to help startups, scaleups, and SMEs access capital through their intangible assets.”

The Alicante meeting included a workshop bringing together high-level representatives from the EUIPO and from other EU offices and AECM members, which include public banks and guarantee institutions, to discuss the latest developments and challenges in the field of IP-backed finance. The EUIPO says that the event “marked a significant milestone, as financial banks and guarantee institutions placed intellectual property (IP) at the forefront of their agenda for the first time.”

The workshop covered strategic considerations from EU institutions, including presentations from the European Commission on a standardised IP valuation framework, within the context of the EU’s Scale-up and Start-up Strategy, and from the EIF focusing on the Innovation and Digitalisation Portfolio Guarantee Product and the future of IP valuation.

The EUIPO presented its vision for the IP-backed finance workstream and called on the AECM financial institutions to collaborate in promoting capacity building and awareness-raising campaigns to their staff.

AECM members shared their experiences and insights on financial instruments and advisory support for IP, highlighting some current challenges and opportunities for scaling up support in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The MFF is the EU's long-term budget, and sets the annual spending targets for different policy areas over a seven-year period.

The workshop concluded with a discussion on strategic priorities for the next MFF, exploring alignment between the European Commission, the EUIPO and the AECM.

The EUIPO defines IP-backed finance as follows

IP-backed finance is an evolving approach that enables businesses to leverage their intellectual property - such as patents, trademarks, designs, copyrights and geographical indications - and access capital that would otherwise be out of reach through traditional lending criteria. Financial institutions are beginning to recognise IP as a viable and strategic asset class. This shift creates new opportunities to collaborate with these institutions in developing innovative funding solutions that support business growth.