UK minister for IP says developing IP-based finance core focus for Government in 2026

Photo by Marcin Nowak on Unsplash

Speaking at this week’s annual conference of the International Trade Mark Association (INTA) in London, the UK’s minister with responsibility for IP, Kanishka Narayan, made it clear that the Government is committed to developing IP-backed finance in the UK as part of a wider updated IP ecosystem.

In a Q&A session after his conference Keynote speech on Tuesday May 5th, 2026, the minister was asked how the UK is promoting and enabling a change in attitudes to IP from it being about protection to it also being a financial tool.

“We are deliberately shifting the conversation about intellectual property, so it’s recognised as a driver of growth,” the minister said. “That’s why we are focused on helping businesses use their IP to access capital and grow. Developing the market for IP‑backed finance is a priority of mine for the year ahead, working with lenders and partners like the British Business Bank to broaden the options available.”

Mr Narayan highlighted that in the UK “there are already encouraging signs in the market – with serious interest growing in how intangible assets can be used more effectively to support growth funding.”

Arguing that IP intensive industries “account for more than a quarter of UK output – around £300 billion a year”, while “intangible assets can make up to 70-80% of a typical firms’ value,” he stressed that “improving how IP is understood, valued and reflected in business reporting is an important part of unlocking that growth.”

The minister promised that the Government would have “more to say shortly as the work of our IP lending advisory working group progresses, but the direction of travel is clear: IP is not just about protection -- it is a strategic asset that businesses can use to invest, grow and compete internationally.”

Earlier, in his keynote speech, he had told the audience of trade mark professional from around the world, “For my government, economic growth is our highest priority. And I am clear that intellectual property is fundamental to driving that growth - whether through new jobs created from world-class research and innovation, or the certainty provided by stable and effective British courts and legal services. That certainty matters. Because investment follows certainty. When businesses know their rights will be respected and enforced, they invest. They innovate. And they scale.”

He observed: “IP matters for investment, for economic growth and resilience. It is also why the UK is determined to play an active role in shaping the wider IP ecosystem – with a highly developed and stable IP framework; world-leading IP professional experts supporting business; and British judges and academics at the forefront of international thinking and legal developments.”

Kanishka Narayan was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for AI and Online Safety) in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in September 2025. He is also responsible for the UK IPO and IP matters in general.

In an article on legal website MLex (paywall) titled “IP-backed lending a priority for UK”, which covered the INTA conference, he was also quoted as saying: “From a public policy point of view, it’s always been very clear to me that understanding where IP is generated, who generates IP, what are the categories that are most associated with later business value creation and financing, is a really critical public policy [question]”… adding that there was “huge value” for future policy development on gathering data to inform this way of thinking.”

In January 2026, Inngot’s CEO, Martin Brassell, who sits on the UK Intellectual Property Office’s IP Finance Advisory Group, posted an article on LinkedIn on the various initiatives in the UK to drive the growth of IP-backed finance as a way to help IP-rich but traditional tangible asset-poor growth companies get bank lending by using their IP as collateral.