WIPO ‘Future of IP’ report: standards for valuing IP assets will be key to commercialising innovative intangibles in 2034

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has just published a new report exploring the future of Intellectual Property (IP) and how IP-driven innovation and creativity might evolve by 2034, which identifies IP valuation and commercialisation as key issues.

The WIPO Pathfinders Report synthesises insights from over 45 interviews with prominent thought leaders and experts within the innovation and creation ecosystem.

As WIPO Director General Daren Tang says in the foreword to the study, it is just the starting point for a whole WIPO workstream over the next few years so that WIPO and the wider IP community have a chance to shape the future of IP, not have a future forced upon them.

DG Tang says:

“Intellectual property never stands still. It is inherently dynamic – influenced and influencing the forces of technology, innovation, and creativity. This helps to explain why the IP community has always been open, curious, and forward-looking.

Today, that mindset is more essential than ever. Digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, are transforming innovation and creativity. In many economies, value creation is shifting from tangible to intangible assets. Global challenges demand new forms of innovation and their accelerated deployment.”

Structured across four chapters, the report is intended to assist Member States and the IP community in understanding how current trends may shape the future landscape, and to provide a foundation for exploring various potential futures for the IP system in the medium to long term.

DG Tang adds:

“I invite you to use Pathfinders as a policy tool to engage with the future, and to perhaps start your own futures and horizon scanning dialogues in your offices or IP institutions. We in the IP community are supposed to be among the most future-forward of agencies given our area of work. So let us work together to sense-make, tease out deeper trends and dynamics that impact on us, look beyond the horizon and be more prepared to serve the future.”

The report kicks off with a review of the main critical factors impacting the IP system. WIPO’s authors have used a PESTLE analysis to group the key external factors (Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal and Environmental).

They then present two contrasting visions of the future of IP in 2034: the Yin (the challenging future) and the Yang (the preferred future).

The report says:

“In the Yin, a challenging future unfolds as the IP landscape struggles under the weight of the compounded effects of global crises, resulting in a fragmented and divided system. This scenario features isolationist IP policies, predatory practices and the dominance of AI in IP creation, marginalizing human creativity.

In contrast, the Yang presents a preferred future in which the global IP system has transformed into an accessible framework that fosters global collaboration and inclusivity. This vision highlights standardized IP laws, digital transformation, widespread understanding of IP rights and a balanced approach to fostering technological progress and protecting human creativity.”

To get to the Yang future, the report has identified five priority areas:

1. Modernizing regulation and policy frameworks

2. Accelerating digital transformation

3. Reinventing IP education

4. Building stronger collaboration networks

5. Ensuring IP relevance and inclusiveness.

From the point of view of IP commercialisation, the Economic elements of the PESTLE analysis are most relevant.

Early in the report, the authors say:

“Economically, the rise in the importance of intangible assets demands a global IP marketplace with standardized valuation methods. Key considerations include aligning protection terms with asset life cycles, reducing barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and striking a balance between innovation incentives and knowledge accessibility.”

“Participants focused on the growing economic importance of intangible assets as a critical factor for the future of IP. Global recognition of the economic potential of this class of assets (the non-physical property of a business) post-COVID-19 is expected to continue long term, presenting an opportunity to create a worldwide market for trading and commercializing them, with IP serving as one of the fundamental building blocks by bringing credibility and recognized valuation.”

“The various elements required to initiate an economic virtuous cycle for IP were examined. Most participants agreed that global, standardized IP valuation and commercialization methodologies would build trust in such a marketplace while facilitating matches between supply and demand. This would encourage companies, particularly SMEs, to integrate IP strategies in their economic planning from the early stages of their business cycle. Further, it would position IP as a gateway to financial investments, ensuring IP is respected, while at the same time catalysing job creation and economic growth.”

In WIPO’s preferred future, IP is valued (in all senses of the term), so in the Yang 2034:

“The modern IP system not only drives innovation but also facilitates the seamless commercialization of ideas… IP offices have evolved into dynamic hubs, serving as the glue that binds ideas, IP and commercialization opportunities. The streamlined, easy licensing processes have made it remarkably simple for inventors and creators to reach global markets.”

“Financial institutions now readily accept IP assets as collateral, as a result of established valuation methodologies that have brought trust and investment to the sector. IP certificates have become a valuable financial instrument, opening new funding avenues for innovators and creators.”

The document, WIPO Pathfinders Report: Exploring the futures of IP driven innovation and creativity, can be downloaded from the WIPO site.