Corporate report

IP Awareness and understanding among UK SMEs

Published 18 April 2024

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Introduction

This report discusses the findings of the Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) IP Awareness Survey, which explores and assesses the levels of IP awareness, understanding and perceived use among UK SME businesses in order to improve engagement and communication with customers whilst also assisting in future policy thinking.

While the aim of the survey is to give an indication of the state of IP awareness and understanding in the UK across all SME business sizes, sectors of industry and business stages, the results from the Awareness Survey also offer insight into barriers to use and key sources of information for businesses that are looking for guidance on how to protect their IP.

To complete this research study, IPO’s Customer Insight team partnered with Savanta, a data, market research and advisory company with more than 600 employees globally.

Methodology

The research was conducted via an online survey of 1,081 business owners, sole traders, or employees at mid-management, senior management, director or C-Suite level. All participants were from the UK, with data collected between 8 February 2023 and 21 February 2023. Details on sample composition are outlined in the Appendix of this report.

Savanta used its proprietary online panel to recruit participants. Savanta uses a wide network of sources to recruit panel members, including email campaigns, telephone, online banner advertising, word of mouth and key strategic partnerships, the combination of which ensures the diversity of respondents and reflects the balance of the UK business population including; size, region, and sector among other factors.

Quota sampling was used to ensure reportable sample sizes for sub-groups. Interlocking quotas were set for business size and sector, providing a good spread of sectors for each business size group. Quotas were set to allow analysis across business size, rather than to be representative of the SME population by size (which would have resulted in a sample heavily skewed to sole traders and micro-businesses).

Quotas were monitored throughout fieldwork to ensure they were filled accurately and efficiently. Quality control was conducted throughout fieldwork, to ensure high quality and robust responses in the final data. Multiple data quality checks were made after the soft launch of the survey, during fieldwork and before the final data delivery. Respondents deemed to be of poor quality were removed and replaced with new respondents. We remove respondents for multiple reasons, including but not limited to inconsistent responses within the survey, poor or non-sensical verbatim at open-ended questions and those who complete the survey too quickly.

Data in this report remain unweighted. Weighted data tables were produced (with rim weighting applied for business size and sector, according to the UK SME population profile as defined by official statistics), and data were compared with the unweighted. As differences were usually negligible between the two datasets, a decision was made to use the unweighted data in this report and avoid using low weighting efficiencies. With data being similar across both datasets, this report therefore provides a valid view of the UK SME population.

In using the weighted data, we would have had to sacrifice useful sub group analysis for example, business size. The unweighted data allowed for greater insight comparison between businesses sizes and provided a more accurate reflection of sampling strategy which sought to provide a greater representation of larger businesses. It was for these reasons the unweighted data was used.

Reportable sample sizes for analysis are 100 respondents or more. Data marked by an * indicate the base size is between 50 and 99 (these findings should be treated with caution due to small base size).

Significance testing has been conducted to a 95% confidence interval unless stated otherwise, and statistical analysis has been conducted between comparative sub-groups (for example, sole traders compared to small businesses, or start-ups compared to businesses in growth).

Definitions

Intellectual property

Throughout the report, where “IP” is mentioned, this refers to intellectual property. Similarly. Where “IPR” is mentioned, this refers to an Intellectual Property Right (for example, trade mark, or copyright).

Where the term “Use IP protection” is used, these businesses claim to use any form of IP protection across registered trade marks, patents, registered design rights, confidentiality agreements/non-disclosure agreements, trade secrets, copyright, unregistered design rights, and unregistered trade marks.

Where the term “do not use IP protection” is used, these businesses do not use any of these forms of IP protection.

Where the term “Use registered IPRs” is used, these businesses use registered trade marks, patents or registered design rights.

Business size and sector

Sole traders are defined as businesses with no employees besides the owner, micro businesses as businesses with 1-9 employees, small businesses as those with 10-49 employees, and medium-size businesses as those with 50-249 employees.

Similarly, businesses have been grouped into 5 combined industry groups using standard SIC codes.^{[footnote 1]}

Business sector	SIC	UK SME Pop.	Quota set	Responses
Production	Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Mining and Quarrying Manufacturing Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	3%	200	205
Construction		17%	200	213
Distribution	Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles Transportation and storage Accommodation and food service activities	21%	200	222
Business services	Information and communication Financial and insurance activities Real estate activities Professional, scientific and technical activities Administrative and support service activities	34%	200	224
Other services	Education Arts, entertainment and recreation Other service activities	24%	200	217

Business stage

Start up: a business in the first stages of operations, with initial high costs and generating limited or no profits.

Growth: a business gaining traction, increasing its market share and exploring opportunities for growth.

Maturity: a business that is established within its market, more stable and profitable.

Executive Summary

This report explores the following indicators to measure IP awareness, understanding and action taken to protect IP:

• awareness – This is measured by claimed familiarity with the term intellectual property on a scale of 0-10. For awareness in this overview scores between 5-10 have been used.
• understanding – This is measured by testing businesses on their ability to match the most commonly used type of IPR to various products.  We state that broad understanding is high in businesses that record 6 to 8 out of 8 correct answers.
• action (use of IP protection) – This is the proportion of businesses that claim to use any of the means of IP protection provided.
• non-use of IP protection – This is the proportion of businesses that do not use any of the means of IP protection provided.

The following four charts show a snapshot of these key metrics overall and by business size, maturity and sector. The rest of the executive summary provides further detail, and the main body of the report gives detailed analysis across these and the other survey metrics.

Figure 1: Overall breakdown

Awareness	79%
Understanding (high)	26%
Action	63%
Do not use IP protection	30%

Figure 2: Breakdown by business size

	Medium-size business	Small businesses	Micro businesses	Sole traders
Awareness	89%	85%	70%	76%
Understanding (high)	15%	24%	25%	35%
Action	87%	79%	56%	42%
Do not use IP protection	6%	15%	39%	51%

Figure 3: Breakdown by business stage

	Maturity	Growth	Start-up
Awareness	40%	24%	21%
Understanding (high)	54%	70%	75%
Action	31%	25%	19%
Do not use IP protection	73%	83%	87%

Figure 4: Breakdown by business sector

	Production	Construction	Distribution	Business services	Other services
Awareness	85%	77%	74%	82%	76%
Understanding (high)	13%	21%	30%	33%	31%
Action	80%	60%	52%	63%	64%
Do not use IP protection	18%	31%	43%	32%	29%

Key findings

• Awareness is high at an overall level, with four in five businesses (79%) claiming to be familiar with the term intellectual property, and two in five (43%) claiming to be very familiar. Small and medium-sized businesses, businesses that claim to use IP protection, those in the production industry, and start-ups are particularly likely to claim they are familiar with IP.

• However, broad understanding of the IPRs most commonly used to protect products and services is much lower than awareness, particularly among  small and medium-size businesses, the production industry, and start-ups. This suggests that many businesses do not have a broad understanding of IP beyond topline terminology (i.e. the term intellectual property itself).

• Overall claimed use of IP protection is high, with just under two thirds (63%) of businesses saying they use IP protection to protect their ideas, innovations and creations, and just over a third (37%) of these businesses claim to be using registered forms of IPRs. Claimed use of IP protection is highest amongst medium-size businesses and start-ups, which aligns with their higher claimed awareness.

• In turn, four in five businesses (84%) say the measures they’ve taken are important to them, with importance particularly high among sole traders and start-ups.

• Two in five businesses (41%) that claim to use IP protection say they own IP that they have chosen not to register or enforce, a trend largely driven by sole traders and businesses that are familiar with IP at an overall level, suggesting that this may be a considered choice. The most common reason for this is cost, with lack of expertise and lack of time also a driving force behind businesses’ decision or inability to register or enforce certain IP.

• Perceived barriers to the use of IP protection are similar both for businesses that claim to use IP protection and those that do not, with both subgroups saying they are discouraged by financial limitations and lack of knowledge and expertise.

• This is exemplified among businesses that do not use IP protection, with just under a quarter saying they do not protect their IP due to a lack of knowledge (23%), one in five due to the cost involved (18%), and just over one in ten due to lack of expertise in the area (13%).

• Overall feedback on use of IPO services is positive. One in seven (15%) businesses say they use the IPO to get information/guidance on protecting their ideas, innovations and creations, with the most commonly used IPO services being website guidance and online tools. More than four in five (81%) businesses say the information/guidance provided is either very or extremely useful, and the same proportion say it has helped them make informed business decisions.

A focus on business size

As illustrated by the four charts above, many of the key differences in this report were found between businesses of different sizes. The following section pulls these differences together in a more detail.

Key findings – Sole traders

For sole traders, we have seen from this study that this group is less likely than small and medium-size businesses, but more likely than micro businesses to claim awareness of intellectual property.

However, this group is more likely than all other business sizes to have high broad understanding of the various types of IPR, despite being less likely to take action to protect its IP.

Key findings – Micro businesses

For micro businesses, we have seen from this study that this group is the least likely of all business sizes to claim awareness of intellectual property.

However, broad understanding among this group is in line with overall levels, despite being less likely than all except sole traders to take action to protect its IP.

Key findings – Small businesses

For small businesses, we have seen from this study that this group claim high awareness of intellectual property, as well as claiming high usage of IP protection.

However, broad understanding among this group is only in line with overall levels, suggesting a gap between claimed use and actual understanding of how their business protects its IP

Key findings – Medium-size businesses

The story for medium-size businesses is similar to that of small businesses, with very high claimed awareness but the lowest broad understanding of all groups by a significant margin. Low levels of understanding alongside high claimed awareness and high claimed use within a business suggests a lack of in depth knowledge.  This could also suggest that bigger businesses don’t have all their IP knowledge residing in one person.

Sample breakdown

Provided in the appendix are further breakdowns of the base of respondents by role, employee type, age of business, size, region and sector.

Size of business	Number of respondents
Sole trader	304
Micro business	314
Small business	259
Medium-sized business	204

How many employees that are based in the UK work in your business?

Figure 5: Sample breakdown

Number of employees	Percentage
0 (I am the owner and there are no employees in the business)	28%
1 to 9	29%
10 to 49	24%
50 to 249	19%

Source: S4. How many employees that are based in the UK work in your business? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Figure 6: In what industry does your business primarily operate?

Industry	Percentage
Production	19%
Construction	20%
Distribution	21%
Business services	21%
Other services	20%

Source: S7. In what industry does your business primarily operate? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Figure 7: Location of businesses

Region	Total businesses surveyed	Proportion of sample
London	179	17%
South East (excl. London)	147	14%
North West	126	12%
Yorkshire and the Humber	104	10%
Scotland	90	8%
East of England	90	8%
East Midlands	86	8%
South West	82	8%
West Midlands	79	7%
Wales	45	4%
North East	40	4%
Northern Ireland	13	1%

Source: S3. Where is your main (permanent or temporary) business premise located in the UK? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Figure 8: Which of the following best describes the stage of your business’ development?

Stage	Percentage
Start up	16%
Growth	44%
Maturity	35%
Don’t know	4%
None of these	1%

Source: S6c. Which of the following best describes the stage of your business’ development? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Section 1: Awareness and understanding

Key findings

• four in five (79%) businesses claim they are familiar with the term intellectual property, with two in five (43%) claiming they are very familiar

• claimed familiarity is highest among small and medium-size businesses, users of IP protection, those in the production industry, and start-ups

• the vast majority of businesses claim to be aware of copyright (98%), registered trade marks (96%), patents (95%), confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements (95%) and trade secrets (92%), although in-depth knowledge is substantially lower

• levels of claimed awareness of specific IP protection continue to be higher among similar groups to overall awareness, namely small and medium-size businesses, users of IP protection, those in production and construction, and start-ups

• understanding of which IP protection to apply is considerably lower than high claimed awareness. For example, the high claimed awareness of groups such as users of IP protection, small and medium-size businesses, the production industry, and start-ups does not translate to understanding of how to apply IP protection to different products

1.1 – Awareness

Four in five businesses are familiar (79%) with the term intellectual property, with two in five (43%) claiming to be very familiar with the term.

One in five (21%) businesses  are unfamiliar with the term, with more than one in ten (14%) very unfamiliar.

Figure 1.1: How familiar are you with the term intellectual property?

	NET: Very unfamiliar (0-2)	NET: Unfamiliar (3-4)	NET: Fairly familiar (5-7)	NET: Very familiar (43%)
Respondents	14%	7%	26%	43%

Source: Q1. How familiar are you with the term intellectual property? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

The results on awareness of IP have been grouped together into four categories. In grouping these results, we understand the balance of awareness more easily and how familiar as a group this sample is with the term ‘intellectual property’.

Small (85%) and medium-size businesses (89%) are more likely than sole traders (76%) and micro businesses (70%) to be familiar with the term intellectual property, as are those who use IP protection (89%) compared to those who do not (61%). The differences by business size align with the results for use of IP protection, suggesting the two factors are interrelated.

Businesses in the start-up (87%) and growth (83%) stage of development are also more likely than those in maturity (73%) to be familiar, with start-up businesses (66%) particularly likely to claim they are very familiar (8-10) (66% versus 44% versus 34%). This could suggest that familiarity is higher among businesses that may have had the need to more recently investigate how IP applies to them in the early stages of their development.

When broken down by sector, businesses in production (85%) are more likely than those in construction (77%), distribution (74%) and other services (76%) to be familiar with the term IP. This is likely due to businesses in the production sector being more likely to have greater exposure to IP protection when compared to the construction and distribution sector, as this is a sector where innovation is key.

Businesses in London (86%) are also more likely to be familiar with the term intellectual property than those in the North (78%), Midlands (78%) and South (75%), suggesting a regional disparity around awareness of what intellectual property is.

1.2 – Understanding

To test understanding, respondents were presented with a list of examples of IP and asked how to protect this. Respondents were only allowed to give one response, so while more than one means may be applicable, we asked for the most commonly used form of IP protection.

For example, brand names associated with machines and medicines could be protected using trade marks, whilst their appearance could be protected using a registered design, but as inventions, machines and medicines would be commonly protected using patents.

Understanding of the types of IP protection most commonly used to protect different products is moderate, with an average of 47% of businesses able to select the correct response on each question. Just over a quarter (26%) of businesses can be classed as having high understanding (quantified as 6 to 8 correct responses provided – see below)

Figure 1.2: Which Intellectual Property Right (IPR) is commonly used to protect each of the following?

	Patent	Trade mark	Design	Copyright	Don’t know
Names of products and brands	13%	53% #	12%	17%	6%
Things you write	11%	14%	10%	56% #	9%
Logos	10%	44% #	23%	17%	6%
Medicines	44% #	20%	11%	6%	19%
Machines	41% #	18%	21%	5%	15%
Photography and music	10%	14%	15%	54%#	7%
Appearance, pattern, and decoration of a product	20%	17%	43% #	11%	8%
Physical shape of a product	23%	17%	43% #	6%	10%

Source: Q8. Which Intellectual Property Right (IPR) is commonly used to protect each of the following? Base: All respondents (n=1081) NB: Correct option indicated with a #

We have categorised level of understanding as:

• high understanding – 6-8 correct responses
• mid-level understanding – 3-5 correct responses
• low understanding – 0-2 correct responses

Understanding

Figure 1.3: Which Intellectual Property Right (IPR) is commonly used to protect each of the following?

Level of understanding
Low	34%
Mid-level	41%
High	26%

Source: Q8. Which Intellectual Property Right (IPR) is commonly used to protect each of the following? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Sole traders are also more likely than small and medium size businesses to select the correct option on copyright on things you write (64% versus 51% and 44%), trade mark on logos (50% versus 39% and 41%), patent on machines (48% versus 37% and 36%) and copyright on photography and music (63% versus 52% and 39%).

And finally, businesses in growth and maturity are also more likely than start-ups to select trade mark on names of products and brands (58% versus 53% versus 44%), copyright on things you write (66% versus 54% versus 40%), trade mark on logos (51% versus 41% versus 35%), copyright on photography and music (60% versus 34% versus 55%), and design on physical shape of a product (49% versus 42% versus 34%).

Interestingly, the high claimed awareness of groups such as users of IP protection, small and medium-size businesses, the production industry and start-ups does not necessarily translate to understanding of how to apply IP protection.

For example, sole traders (35%) are more likely than micro businesses (25%), small businesses (24%) and medium-size businesses (15%) to have high understanding, while businesses in maturity (31%) are more likely than start-ups (19%) to have high understanding.

This may imply that those with sole responsibility and those who may have used IP protection over a longer period of time are more likely to have built up greater understanding of IP protection. Alternatively, small and medium-sized businesses may have a dedicated member of staff with responsibility for IP who did not participate in this survey, which could explain lower levels of understanding among these businesses.

Similarly, businesses in the production sector (13%) are less likely than businesses in construction (21%), distribution (30%), business services (33%) and other services (31%) to have high understanding. 

These differences may reflect different sectors’ tendency to understand and use only specific measures of protecting IP.

The table below shows the percentage of businesses in each sector that selected the correct answer for each question at question 8: Which Intellectual Property Right (IPR) is commonly used to protect each of the following?

Figure 1.4: Results of: Which Intellectual Property Right (IPR) is commonly used to protect each of the following?

	Production	Construction	Distribution	Business services	Other services
Trade mark on names of products	40%	48%	57%	59%	58%
Copyright on things you write	40%	50%	59%	67%	65%
Trademark on logos	36%	38%	49%	47%	48%
Patent on medicines	33%	43%	47%	52%	46%
Patent on machines	33%	36%	47%	44%	45%
Copyright on photography and music	33%	47%	63%	65%	59%
Design on physical shape of a product	38%	41%	43%	48%	47%

A higher proportion of businesses in the production sector selected “patent” for each of the products commonly protected by other forms of IP. However, as seen above, businesses in the production sector were least likely to select “patent” for products where it was the correct response.

Familiarity with different forms of IP protection

All respondents were asked how familiar they were with 8 different measures/actions that can be taken to protect a business’ IP.

The vast majority of businesses are aware of copyright (98%), registered trade marks (96%), patents (95%), confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements (95%) and trade secrets (92%).

Despite overall awareness being high, businesses rate their in-depth knowledge as lower. For example, only a third of businesses say they are aware and could talk in detail about copyright (33%), while around a quarter say the same about registered trade marks (27%), patents (25%) and confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements (28%).

Figure 1.5: How familiar are you with the following ways in which people and businesses can protect their ideas, innovations, and creations?

	Don’t know	Never heard of this	Aware of this but could not talk about it in any detail	NET: Aware and could talk about this
Copyright	*%	2%	21%	77%
Registered trade mark	1%	3%	26%	70%
Patent	1%	4%	28%	67%
Confidentiality agreements/non-disclosure agreements	1%	4%	25%	70%
Trade secrets	2%	6%	36%	56%
Registered design rights	1%	15%	34%	50%
Unregistered trade marks	1%	17%	34%	48%
Unregistered design rights	2%	25%	30%	43%

Source: Q2. How familiar are you with the following ways in which people and businesses can protect their ideas, innovations, and creations? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Similarly, despite high awareness of copyright, overall awareness of more specific unregistered forms of IP is notably lower, at just 82% and 73% for unregistered trademarks and unregistered design rights respectively. Familiarity was at its lowest with these two forms of unregistered IP.

High levels of awareness around specific forms of IP protection continue to be driven by the same subgroups as high overall IP awareness, namely small and medium-size businesses, users of IP protection, those in production, and start-ups.

Looking in detail at awareness of registered trade marks as an example, small and medium-size businesses (35% and 36%) are more likely than sole traders and micro businesses (19% and 21%) to say they are aware and could talk about it in detail.

Similarly, those in production and construction (30% and 35%) are more likely than those in business and other services (22% and 21%), and start-ups are more likely than businesses in maturity (33% versus 24%), to say they are aware and could talk about registered trade marks in detail.

Figure 1.6: Aware and could talk about it in detail - Sector

Sector
Construction	35%
Production	30%
Distribution	25%
Business services	22%
Other services	21%

Figure 1.7: Aware and could talk about it in detail – Business stage

Business stage
Start up	33%
Growth	27%
Maturity	24%

As may be expected, users of IP protection are also more likely than businesses that do not use IP protection (35% versus 12%) to say they are aware of registered trade marks and could talk about them in detail.

 Low levels of awareness for unregistered trade marks and unregistered design rights follow a similar pattern:

• for example, sole traders (35%) and micro businesses (30%) are more likely than small and medium-sized businesses (19% and 12%) to say they have never heard of unregistered design rights
• similarly, those that do not use IP protection are more likely than users of IP protection (47% versus 14%) and businesses in production (15%) are less likely than all other industries, to say they have never heard of unregistered design rights
• additionally, businesses in the maturity stage (33%) are less likely than those in start-up and growth (17% and 21%) to say they have never heard of unregistered design rights

Section summary

Whilst familiarity is high overall, understanding of the types of IP protection most commonly used to protect specific products and services is much lower. Indeed whilst familiarity is particularly high among small and medium-sized businesses, users of IP protection, those in the production industry, and start-ups, these groups are subsequently least likely to understand how to apply IP protection to different products. This suggests that while many businesses may be loosely aware of the term intellectual property and what it is, many do not understand IP beyond topline terminology, or the detail on how to protect specific forms of IP.

Differences in understanding may reflect different sectors’ tendency to use and understand only certain types of protection in order to operate successfully.  Moreover, in larger businesses, like small and medium-sized businesses, the need for employees to have in-depth knowledge of IP and IP protection may be less apparent when compared with sole traders and micro businesses. With internal IP experts more likely to be present in larger businesses there may be less need for widespread high understanding and thus less chance that those with high IP understanding, within those larger organisations, will be a participant in this survey.

Section 2: Sources of information/guidance

Key findings

• three in ten (30%) businesses use a search engine to get information/guidance on protecting their ideas, innovations and creations, while a quarter (25%) use professional associations and one in five (21%) use an accountant. - Sole traders and micro-businesses are more likely to use informal methods, while small and medium-size businesses are more likely than sole traders and micro-businesses to use formal advisors
• just over a third (36%) of businesses that get information and guidance on IP from any source say they do so to understand what intellectual property their business has, while a third (32%) do so to understand how intellectual property can add value to their business or how/if to apply for intellectual property rights
• three in five businesses (60%) that use IP protection say they have an intellectual property strategy, with start-ups and those using registered IPRs more likely to say this is the case
• around one in six (15%) businesses say they use the IPO to get information/guidance on protecting their ideas, innovations and creations
• the most commonly used IPO services are website guidance and online tools, with over four in five (81%) businesses saying the information/guidance provided is at least very useful, with the same proportion saying it has helped them make informed business decisions

2.1 – General sources of information/guidance

All respondents were asked where they get information/guidance to protect their IP.

Three in ten businesses (30%) use a search engine to get information/guidance on protecting their ideas, innovations and creations, while a quarter (25%) use professional associations and one in five (21%) use an accountant.

Around one in seven (15%), businesses use the IPO to get information/guidance, and just under one in ten (9%) do not use any of the sources provided.

Figure 2.1: Where, if anywhere, do you get information/guidance on protecting your business’ ideas, innovations and creations?

Search engine (for example, Google)	30%
Solicitor	27%
Professional associations	25%
Accountant	21%
Family/friends	20%
IP Attorney	19%
Business/innovation advisor	17%
Intellectual property office (IPO)	15%
Social media	14%
Bank	13%
Other government departments and agencies	12%
Podcast	10%
Other	1%
Don’t know	4%
None of these	9%

Source: Q3. Where, if anywhere, do you get information/guidance on protecting your business’ ideas, innovations and creations? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Sole traders (36%) and micro-businesses (36%) are more likely than small (23%) and medium-size businesses (24%) to use informal methods such as search engines to get information/guidance. They are also more likely to not use any of the services provided (18% versus 11% versus 3% versus 0%).

On the other hand, small and medium-size businesses are more likely than sole traders and micro-businesses to use formal advisors. This includes solicitors (27% and 28% versus 14% and 20%) and business/innovation advisors (22% and 24% versus 11% and 14%), suggesting there is a significant gap in access to formal guidance for smaller businesses.

Non-users of IP protection are more likely than users to use a search engine (36% versus 28%), with users more likely than non-users of IP protection to use every other source of information/guidance provided.

Interestingly, businesses in maturity (15%) are also more likely than those in start-up (3%) or growth (5%) to use none of the services listed, which may suggest that these businesses already have the information they need to protect their IP.

Just over a third of businesses that get information and guidance say they do so to understand what IP their business has (36%), while a third do so to understand how IP can add value to their business (32%) or how/if to apply for IP protection (32%).

Figure 2.2: How has your business used that information/guidance?

To understand what intellectual property my business has	36%
To understand how intellectual property can add value to my business	32%
To understand how/if to apply for intellectual property rights	32%
To develop an intellectual property strategy	26%
To access funding or grants	23%
None of these	12%
Don’t know	4%

Source: Q4. How has your business used that information/guidance? Base: All who get information/guidance (n=946)

Amongst businesses that use any information and guidance, small and medium-size businesses (37% and 42%) are more likely than sole traders and micro businesses (26% and 26%) to do so to understand how IP can add value to their business.

Similarly, when developing an IP strategy, it is medium-size businesses (35%) that are more likely to do so when compared with sole traders (23%) and micro businesses (20%). Furthermore, small businesses (29%) are also more likely than micro business to say they use this information to develop an IP strategy. This suggests that larger businesses use the information/guidance they find to manage their IP in a more structured and strategic manner. It is important to note that what constitutes an IP strategy remains open to interpretation.

Developing an IP strategy

Figure 2.3: How has your business used that information/guidance?

	Sole trader	Micro business	Small business	Medium-sized business
Developing a IP strategy	23%	20%	29%	35%

Source: Q4. How has your business used that information/guidance? Base: All who get information/guidance. Response = to develop an intellectual property strategy (n=264)

In turn, start-ups (42%) are more likely than businesses in growth (31%) or maturity (28%) to be looking for information/guidance to understand how/if to apply for IP protection (42% versus 31% versus 28%) or to access funding or grants (32% versus 21% versus 23%), demonstrating that businesses in earlier stages of development are keen to know more about how IP protection can both help protect their IP and grow their company financially.

Three in five (60%) businesses that use IP protection say they have some form of IP strategy.

Figure 2.4: Does your business have a strategy to manage its intellectual property?

Yes	60%
No	28%
Don’t know	9%
Prefer not to say	3%

Source: Q13. Does your business have a strategy to manage its intellectual property? Base: All users of IP protection (n= 686)

Following on from the above, most businesses (60%) that protect their IP in some way have a strategy to manage their IP. Of those that state that they have an IP strategy, it is medium-sized businesses (67%) and those that are familiar with IP (64%) that are the most likely to have a strategy.

This is driven largely by businesses that use registered IPRs compared to unregistered (71% versus 61%), as well as those who are familiar with intellectual property overall (64% versus 32%). Businesses in other services (46%) are also less likely than all other industries to have a strategy.

Interestingly, start-ups (74%) are more likely than businesses in growth (60%) and maturity (54%) to say they have a strategy, suggesting that a long-term plan for managing intellectual property is perceived as more important by businesses in earlier stages of development.

Strategy to manage IP - Sector

Figure 2.5: Does your business have a strategy to manage its intellectual property?[YES]

Construction	70%
Production	65%
Distribution	64%
Business services	59%
Other services	46%

Source: Q13. Does your business have a strategy to manage its intellectual property? [YES] Base: All users of IP protection (n=686)

When considering how useful businesses find the sources of information/guidance they use, the IPO scores very highly

Figure 2.6: How useful are the following sources of information/guidance relevant to protecting your business’ ideas, innovations and creations?

	Not at all useful	NET: Moderately/slightly useful	NET: Extremely/very useful
Intellectual Property Office (IPO) (n=164)	1%	15%	84%
IP attorney (n=181)	1%	17%	82%
Accountant (n=227)	0%	20%	80%
Solicitor(n=265)	0%	19%	80%
Professional associations (n=273)	1%	20%	79%
Business/innovation advisor (n=182)	1%	22%	77%
Bank (n=143)	1%	26%	73%
Search engine (n=328)	*%	27%	73%
Social media (n=156)	1%	29%	71%
Podcast (n=109)	3%	28%	70%
Other government departments and agencies (n=126)	2%	29%	69%
Family/friends (n=220)	*%	34%	65%

Source: Q5. How useful are the following sources of information/guidance relevant to protecting your business’ ideas, innovations and creations? Base: All who get information/guidance.

Over four in five (84%) businesses that use the IPO say that the information/guidance is at least very useful, with two fifths of those (39%) saying it is extremely useful.

2.2 – IPO information/guidance

Among businesses that use the IPO for information/guidance, two in five use website guidance (42%) or online tools (40%), while the least commonly used service is IPO events (18%).

Figure: 2.7: You said that your business uses the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for guidance. Which of the following IPO services does your business use?

Website guidance	42%
Online tools	40%
Training	33%
Applying to register Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)	32%
Email updates	30%
Webinars	29%
Contact centre guidance	26%
Events	18%
None of these	2%
Don’t know	2%

Source: Q6. You said that your business uses the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for guidance. Which of the following IPO services does your business use? Base: All who use IPO for information/guidance (n=164)

Medium-sized businesses (55%) are the most likely to make use of IPO training services, significantly more so than sole traders (24%) and micro businesses (17%). Furthermore, businesses in the growth stage (37%) and those in the construction industry (48%) are also the most likely to use IPO training.

Similar patterns are seen for IPO events. Medium-sized businesses (32%) are once again the most likely to attend IPO events, significantly more so than sole traders (12%) and micro businesses (7%). Furthermore, construction businesses (30%) are the most likely to attend IPO events compared to other sectors, while businesses in the maturity stage (20%) are more likely than start-ups (13%) or those in growth (18%).

Among businesses that use IPO services, four in five (80%) say they have helped them make informed businesses decisions, with a third of these (32%) saying they do so to a great extent.

Figure 2.8: To what extent have IPO services helped you make informed business decisions?

	Don’t know	To no extent	To a little extent	To some extent	To a great extent	NET: To at least some extent
IPO helping to make informed business decision	1%	4%	14%	49%	32%	80%

Source: Q7. To what extent have IPO services helped you make informed business decisions? Base: All who use IPO for information/guidance (n=164)

Businesses in growth (86%) are more likely than those in maturity (70%) to say IPO services have helped them to at least some extent.

Patterns across all other subgroups are consistent, with no significant differences.

Section summary

Businesses are most likely to use a search engine to get information/guidance on protecting their ideas, however the usefulness of this is significantly lower compared to other sources of information/guidance. Instead, whilst fewer businesses say they use the IPO, feedback on the usefulness of these services is positive, and the majority also say this information has helped them to make informed business decisions.

The most common reason for businesses to look for this information/guidance is simply to understand what IP the business has, although just over a quarter also do so to develop an IP strategy. Larger businesses are more likely than smaller businesses to look for information of developing such a strategy, suggesting that they use the information/guidance they find to manage their IP in a more structured and strategic manner, whilst at an overall level the majority of businesses that use IP protection say they actually have a strategy to manage their IP.

Section 3: Use & users of IP protection

Key findings

• just under two thirds (63%) of respondents claim to use at least one measure of IP protection to protect their ideas, innovations and creations, of which just over a third (37%) claim to use registered forms of IPRs. Claimed use is highest amongst medium-size businesses and those which are start-ups, as well as those based in London

• over four in five businesses (84%) say the IPRs they use are important to them, with importance particularly high among sole traders and start-ups

• among businesses that register their IP, four in five (81%) do so for legal protection/enforcement or to help prevent other businesses from copying products or services (80%)
  
  - start-ups and sole traders are more likely than their comparators to say they register IP for all of the reasons provided, which could be explained by the perceived importance of IP to these businesses as noted above

• businesses that use IP protection are most likely to say they have benefited from them through improved reputation (29%), increased profit (26%) and gaining new business (22%)

• when considering the ways in which they plan to use their IP in the future, businesses that use IP protection are most likely to say they will grow the business (42%), improve its reputation (40%) and gain new business (35%)

3.1 – Use of means to protect ideas, innovations and creations

Just under two thirds (63%) of businesses claim to use IP protection, of which 37% claim to use registered IPRs and 53% claim to use unregistered IPRs, while 10% of businesses use exclusively registered IPRs.

Figure 3.1: As far as you are aware, does your business use any of the following to protect its ideas, innovations or creations?

Copyright	28%
Registered trade mark	21%
Confidentiality agreements/non-disclosure agreements	19%
Trade secrets	15%
Registered design rights	15%
Patent	14%
Unregistered trade marks	11%
Unregistered design rights	9%
Don’t know	6%
None of these	30%
NET: Use IPRs	63%
NET: Registered IPRs	37%
NET: Unregistered IPRs	53%

Source: Q10. As far as you are aware, does your business use any of the following to protect its ideas, innovations or creations? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

The most commonly used form of IPR is copyright (28%), with 21% of businesses claiming to use registered trade marks. In turn, 19% claim to use confidentiality/non-disclosure agreements as a means to protect their ideas, innovations and creations.

As might be expected, businesses that claim they are familiar with IP are more likely to also claim to use IPRs of any form (42% versus 15%), but it is important once again to caveat this with the fact that businesses with low understanding (71%) are more likely than those with both high (43%) and mid-level understanding (43%) to claim they use any form of IP protection.

Similarly, this trend continues among businesses that claim to use registered IPRs, with businesses with low broad understanding (50%) again more likely than those with high (24%) and mid-level understanding (33%) to say they use registered IPRs. This suggests that while businesses may believe they use many types of IP protection, they may lack knowledge of the specific means that they use.

Differences between claimed familiarity and broad understanding  can in part be explained by respondents’ relation to their business. The gap is narrower for owners and sole traders, , while the picture is a little more nuanced by employee level.

For example, employees (83%) are more likely than both owners (77%) and sole traders (68%) to claim awareness of intellectual property, as well as claim that their business uses IP protection (71%) compared to owners (41%) and sole traders (24%). However, employees (19%) are then less likely than owners (37%) and sole traders (34%) to have high understanding of IP.

By employee level, C-Suite executives (94%) and directors (90%) are more likely than senior management (80%) and mid-management (75%) to claim awareness of IP, while C-suite executives (71%), directors (78%) and senior management (77%) are more likely than mid-management (58%) to claim that their business uses IP protection.

However, while C-suite executives tend to have a high broad understanding level, directors (12%) are less likely than C-suite (27%), senior management (20%) and mid-management (23%) to have high understanding of IP.

Figure 3.2: As far as you are aware, does your business use any of the following to protect its ideas, innovations or creations?

	Medium-size businesses	Small businesses	Micro businesses	Sole traders
NET: Use IP protection	83%	68%	46%	35%
NET: Use registered IPRs	60%	46%	29%	20%
NET: Use unregistered IP protection	73%	66%	45%	39%
None of these	6%	15%	39%	51%

Source: Q10. As far as you are aware, does your business use any of the following to protect its ideas, innovations or creations? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

By business size, medium-size businesses (87%) are more likely than sole traders (42%), micro (56%) and small businesses (79%) to claim to use IP protection.

When this is in turn broken down by type of IPR, medium-size businesses (60%) are more likely than sole traders (20%), micro businesses (29%) and small businesses (46%) to claim to use registered forms of IPRs.

Medium-size businesses (73%) and small businesses (66%) are also more likely than sole traders (39%) and micro businesses (45%) to claim to use unregistered forms of IP protection.

Figure 3.3: As far as you are aware, does your business use any of the following to protect its ideas, innovations or creations?

	Maturity	Growth	Start-up
NET: Use IP protection	44%	64%	65%
NET: Use registered IPRs	31%	40%	45%
NET: Use unregistered IP protection	44%	59%	66%
None of these	40%	24%	21%

Source: Q10. As far as you are aware, does your business use any of the following to protect its ideas, innovations or creations? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Considering claimed usage by business stage, businesses in start-up (75%) and growth (70%) are more likely than those in maturity to claim they use IP protection (54%).

In turn, start-ups (22%) are more likely than businesses in growth (13%) and maturity (5%) to claim to use unregistered trade marks, with the same true for unregistered design rights (17%* versus 8%* and 5%*). 

Businesses in growth (11%) are also more likely than start-ups (19%) and those in maturity (11%) to claim they use patents.

Businesses in the production sector are more likely than those in all other industries to claim to use IP protection (80%), but particularly registered forms (54%). They are also more likely than businesses in all other industries to claim to exclusively use registered IPRs (19%), including registered design rights (23%) and patents (23%).

Regionality also plays a part, with claimed use of IP protection significantly higher overall in London (78%) when compared to the North (67%), Midlands (59%), South (54%) and Scotland (66%). This tallies with higher claimed awareness in London, suggesting an opportunity to increase usage in the rest of the UK by targeting businesses outside the capital.

Finally, just 6% of businesses say they do not know whether they use any IPRs.

3.2 – Users of IPRs

The importance of IPRs to businesses that claim to use them is high overall. Over four in five businesses (84%) that claim to use the IPR examples provided consider them at least quite important.

Broken down, the most important of these IPRs to businesses are registered trade marks (93%), closely followed by copyright (89%). While unregistered trade marks (79%) and unregistered design rights (73%) are stated as the least important to those who claim to use them, they are still considered important to around three quarters of this group.

Figure 3.4: You said that your business uses/holds Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). How important are these to your business?

	Don’t know	Not at all important	Not very important	Neither important not unimportant	Quite important	Very important
Registered trade mark (n=227)	0%	1%	2%	4%	32%	61%
Copyright (n=303)	0%	1%	3%	8%	35%	53%
Patent (n=156)	1%	1%	2%	9%	40%	47%
Confidentiality agreements/non-disclosure agreements (n=210)	0%	1%	3%	9%	30%	56%
Trade secrets (n=162)	1%	1%	2%	12%	33%	51%
Registered design rights (n=158)	0%	2%	6%	12%	28%	52%
Unregistered trade marks (n=122)	1%	2%	5%	13%	36%	43%
Unregistered design rights (n=92)	1%	2%	7%	17%	34%	39%

Source: Q12. You said that your business uses/holds Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). How important are these to your business? Base: All users of IPRs (n=686)

Generally speaking, these high levels of importance also tally with levels of understanding. For example, businesses with high understanding are more likely than those with low understanding to say copyright (96% versus 80%) and confidentiality agreements/non-disclosure agreements (95% versus 80%) are important to them. This suggests understanding of how to apply different IPRs leads to even higher levels of perceived importance.

The most pronounced distinctions between businesses of different sizes and stages of development occur at the extremes of the scale, with start-ups (78%) more likely than businesses in growth (59%) and maturity (56%) to say that registered trade marks are very important. Start-ups are also more likely than businesses in growth and maturity to say copyright is very important (75% versus 52%, 48%).

Similarly, sole traders (76%) are more likely than micro, small and medium-size businesses (45%, 51%, 49%) to say copyright is very important to them.

By sector, the only significant difference is around the importance of copyright, with businesses in the business services industry (94%) more likely than those in the production industry (83%) to say copyright is important to them.

Among businesses that claim to register their IP, four in five (81%) do so for legal protection/enforcement or to help prevent other businesses from copying products or services (80%).

Figure 3.5: For which of the following reasons, if any, does your business register Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)?

	Don’t know	Don’t know what this means	No	Yes
For legal protection/enforcement	5%	1%	12%	81%
It helps prevent other businesses from copying products or services	4%	1%	15%	80%
It increases the value/profitability of the business	7%	1%	17%	76%
It is common practice for businesses we work with	9%	0%	15%	76%
To obtain licensing revenues	9%	1%	20%	71%
It improves the chances of obtaining financing	9%	1%	22%	68%

Source: Q14. For which of the following reasons, if any, does your business register Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)? Base: All users of IP protection who register IP (n=395)

When broken down by the type of IPR used to register IP, businesses that use registered trade marks (87%) are more likely than those that use patents (79%) and registered design rights (79%) to say that they do so for legal protection/enforcement, suggesting businesses may be more concerned about legally protecting their brand than their products or processes.

As exemplified below, it is interesting to note that start-ups and sole traders are more likely than their comparators to say they register IP for all of the reasons provided. This could be explained by the perceived importance of IP to these businesses, which is higher for both sole traders and start-ups than larger businesses and those in later stages of development.

For example, sole traders are more likely to say they register IPRs to obtain licensing revenues compared to micro, small and medium-sized businesses (87% versus 64%, 66%, 72%).

Similarly, sole traders (92%) are more likely than micro (74%) and medium-size businesses (78%) to say they register IPRs for legal protection/enforcement.

Figure 3.6: Reasons for registering IP [YES] - Business stage

	Startup	Growth	Maturity
For legal protection/enforcement	94%	81%	75%
It helps prevent other businesses from copying products or services	93%	79%	76%
It is common practice for businesses we work with	90%	76%	68%
It increases the value/profitability of the business	89%	75%	68%
To obtain licensing revenues	89%	69%	64%
It improves the chances of obtaining financing	83%	67%	60%

Source: Q14. For which of the following reasons, if any, does your business register Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)? [YES] Base: All users of IP protection who register IP (n=395)

Figure 3.7: For which of the following reasons, if any, does your business register Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)? [YES]

	Medium-size business	Small business	Micro business	Sole trader
For legal protection/enforcement	78%	84%	74%	92%
It helps prevent other businesses from copying products or services	83%	80%	70%	92%
It is common practice for businesses we work with	72%	81%	67%	88%
It increases the value/profitability of the business	73%	73%	76%	87%
To obtain licensing revenues	72%	66%	64%	87%
It improves the chances of obtaining financing	71%	63%	62%	82%

Source: Q14. For which of the following reasons, if any, does your business register Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)? Base: All users of IP protection who register IP (n=395)

At the overall level, these results match understanding, with businesses that have high understanding more likely than those with mid and low understanding to say they register their IP for legal protection/enforcement (96% versus 84% versus 73%) and to prevent other businesses from copying products or services (96% versus 80% versus 75%).

Similarly, businesses that have high understanding are more likely than those with low understanding to say they do so to increase the value/profitability of the business (87% versus 70%).

The only exception is for improving the business’ chances of obtaining financing, where businesses with low understanding are more likely than those with high understanding to say they register their IP (71% versus 57%).

Businesses that claim to use IP protection are most likely to say they have benefited from this through improved reputation (29%), increased profit (26%) and gaining new business (22%).

Figure 3.8: In which of the following ways, if any, has your business benefited from using its Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)?

Improved reputation	29%
Increased profit	26%
Gained new business	22%
Better intellectual property enforcement	20%
Access to new markets and new business	20%
Licensing revenue	20%
Improved ability to innovate	20%
Larger market share	18%
Increased partnerships with other businesses	17%
Greater access to grant funding	16%
Greater access to financing/investment	15%
My business has not benefitted from using Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)	6%
Don’t know	3%

Source: Q16. In which of the following ways, if any, has your business benefited from using its Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)? Base: All users of IPRs (n=686)

Increased profit has been claimed as being of particular benefit to larger businesses, with small and medium-size businesses (33% and 31%) more likely than sole traders (19%) and micro businesses (20%) to say this has been a benefit of using IPRs.

Licensing revenue has been claimed as being of most benefit to start-ups (29%) when compared to businesses in growth (20%) and maturity (14%), while greater access to grant funding is more important for medium-sized businesses than sole traders, micro and small businesses (24% versus 13%, 11%, 14%).

When considering the ways in which they plan to use their intellectual property in the future, businesses that claim to use IP protection are most likely to say they will grow the business (42%), improve its reputation (40%) and gain new business (35%).

Figure 3.9: And in which of the following ways, if any, does your business plan to use its intellectual property in the future?

Grow the business	42%
Improve its reputation	40%
Gain new business	35%
Increase profit	31%
Increase innovation and development of new products/services	25%
Develop partnerships with other businesses	22%
Larger market share	18%
Greater access to financing/investment	12%
Greater access to grant funding	10%
Franchising/licencing	9%
None of these	3%
Don’t know	3%

Source: Q17. And in which of the following ways, if any, does your business plan to use its intellectual property in the future? Base: All users of IPRs (n=686)

Using IP to grow their business is more important for start-ups compared to businesses in maturity (48% versus 37%) as they look to expand in their early development, with increasing innovation and development of new products/services also more important for start-ups (33% versus 24%, 23%).

Businesses in maturity are instead looking to place greater emphasis on using IP to increase their market share compared to start-ups (21% versus 12%).

Greater access to financing/investment is more important for small and medium-size businesses (15% versus 17%) compared to sole traders and micro businesses (7% and 6%), suggesting larger SMEs are more open to leveraging their intellectual property to raise finance and attract investment.

Section summary

Overall claimed usage of IP protection is high, with the majority of businesses saying they use IP protection to protect their ideas, innovations and creations, with this claimed use of IP protection highest amongst medium-size businesses and start-ups, aligning with their higher awareness. It is however important to caveat this with the fact that businesses with low understanding are more likely than those with both high and mid-level understanding to say they use any form of IP protection, suggesting that while businesses may believe they use many types of IP protection, they may lack knowledge of the specific means that they use. However, among businesses that use IP protection, the majority do say that the means of protection they use is important to them, with importance particularly high among sole traders and start-ups.

Section 4: Barriers to use

Key findings

• two in five businesses (41%) say they own IP that they have chosen not to register or enforce, a trend largely driven by sole traders and businesses that claim to be familiar with IP at an overall level
  - the most common reason for this is cost (42%), with lack of expertise and lack of time also a driving force behind the decision or inability to protect or enforce IP

• just under a quarter of businesses (23%) do not use IP protection due to a lack of knowledge, one in five due to the cost involved (18%), and just over one in ten due to lack of expertise in the area (13%)

• barriers to use are similar both for businesses that use IP protection and those that do not, with both subgroups saying they would be discouraged by financial limitations and lack of knowledge and expertise

• over half of businesses that do not use IP protection (54%) would not be interested in using IP protection in any of the ways provided, while one in six (15%) do not know in which ways their business would be interested in protecting its ideas, innovations and creations

Users if IP protection

Among businesses that use IP protection, two in five (41%) say they own intellectual property that they have chosen not to register, protect or enforce.

Figure 4.1: Does your business own any intellectual property that it has chosen not to register or enforce?

Yes	41%
No	41%
Don’t know	15%
Prefer not to say	3%

Source: Q11a. Does your business own any intellectual property that it has chosen not to register or enforce? Base: All users of IP protection (n=686)

This lack of uptake is largely driven by sole traders (57%), with this group more likely than micro (36%), small (40%) and medium-size businesses (37%) to say they own IP that they have chosen not to register or enforce.

Start-ups (69%) are also more likely to say they own IP that they have chosen not to register or enforce than businesses in growth (39%) or maturity (28%), suggesting that smaller businesses and those in earlier stages of development may lack the knowledge and/or resources to register or enforce their IP.

However, those that are familiar with IP are more likely than those who are not familiar (44% versus 17%) to say they do not register or enforce their own IP, which may point to the decision having been a considered one for some of these businesses, rather than due to a lack of knowledge.

Amongst those who do not register or enforce their intellectual property, the most common response cited by businesses is cost (42%), with 31% citing lack of expertise and 31% also citing lack of time.

Figure 4.2: Which of the following, if any, are reasons why your business has chosen not to register or enforce this intellectual property?

Cost	42%
Lack of expertise	31%
Lack of time	31%
Minimal risk of another business copying	29%
Lack of capacity	27%
Lack of information/guidance	26%
Concerns around legal disputes	25%
Not right for this product/service	18%
None of these	1%

Source: Q11b. Which of the following, if any, are reasons why your business has chosen not to register or enforce this intellectual property? Base: All users who do not register IP (n=283)

As above, sole traders (54%) are more likely to cite tangible issues such as cost as a barrier to registering or enforcing their IP than micro (34%) or medium-size businesses (37%), as well as being more likely than micro, small and medium-size businesses to cite concerns around legal disputes (40%* versus 20%, 17%, 22%*).

Start-ups are more likely than businesses in maturity (36%* versus 18%) to cite lack of capacity, and more likely than those in growth to cite concerns around legal disputes (33% versus 19%). Start-ups are also more likely than those in growth to cite lack of expertise (41% versus 24%*), suggesting that while overall familiarity with intellectual property is high among start-ups, they may lack in-depth knowledge on how to register the IP they possess.

By sector, businesses in the production industry (28%) are less likely than those in construction (45%), distribution (49%) and other services (55%) to cite cost as a concern.

At the overall user level, over two in five businesses are discouraged from registering IPRs by cost (43%), a third (33%) by lack of knowledge, and three in ten (30%) by lack of expertise.

Figure 4.3: Which of the following, if any, would discourage you from registering Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)?

Cost	43%
Lack of knowledge	33%
Lack of expertise	30%
Lack of time	27%
Lack of information and guidance	25%
Bureaucracy	22%
Lack of capacity	21%
Concerns around legal disputes	19%
None of these	6%

Source: Q15. Which of the following, if any, would discourage you from registering Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)? Base: All users of IPRs (n=686)

Start-ups (35%) are more likely than businesses in growth (26%) or maturity (23%) to cite lack of time as a discouragement from registering IPRs.

Lack of information and guidance is a more significant barrier for sole traders (30%) than medium-size businesses (20%), and bureaucracy is also a more significant barrier for sole traders (30%) than small businesses (17%). This is likely due to small and medium-size businesses being more likely than sole traders to have access to formal advisors such as external solicitors, business innovation advisors and in-house solicitors who can both provide guidance and manage the business’ IP themselves.

Once again, cost is less of a barrier to businesses in the production industry (33%) compared to those in the business services (45%) and other services (49%) industries.

One in five (19%) users say they would be discouraged from registering IPRs by concerns around legal disputes.

Businesses that cite legal disputes as a concern are again most likely to say this is due to cost (48%), with lack of expertise (34%), lack of enforcement (30%) and reputational damage (30%) also scoring highly.

Figure 4.4: You said that you would be discouraged from using Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) due to concerns around legal disputes. Which of the following, if any, concern you most about legal disputes?

Cost	48%
Lack of expertise	34%
Reputational damage	30%
Lack of enforcement	30%
Lack of time	29%
Bureaucracy	27%
Lack of capacity	23%
None of these	1%

Source: Q15a. You said that you would be discouraged from using Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) due to concerns around legal disputes. Which of the following, if any, concern you most about legal disputes? Base: All users who are discouraged by legal disputes (n=128)

4.2 Non-users if IPRs

Just under a quarter of businesses (23%) say they do not use IPRs due to a lack of knowledge, one in five (18%) due to the cost involved, and just over one in ten (13%) because of a lack of expertise in the area.

At the other end of the scale, two in five (39%) businesses say that none of the reasons listed are why they do not use IP protection, suggesting that for many businesses it is simply a case of not perceiving a need to use them rather than financial barriers or a knowledge gap.

This is reinforced when analysing, the “other” responses, where the majority of respondents say that this is because their business simply does not need to protect any IP.

Among non-users, sole traders (43%) are more likely than small businesses (24%) to say none of the reasons listed are why they do not use IP protection, while businesses in maturity are more likely than businesses in growth (49% versus 26%) to respond in this way.

Figure 4.5: You said that your business does not use Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).Why is this?

Lack of knowledge	23%
Cost	18%
Lack of expertise	13%
Lack of information and guidance	10%
Lack of time	6%
Bureaucracy	3%
Lack of capacity	3%
Concerns around legal disputes	2%
Other	10%
None of these	39%

Source: Q18. You said that your business does not use Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). Why is this? Base: All non-users (n= 326)

Businesses that claim to be familiar with IP are more likely than those that are not familiar (25% versus 9%) to cite cost as a reason for not using IPRs.

Businesses in growth (29%) are also more likely to be concerned by cost than those in maturity (11%).

Over half (54%) of businesses that do not use IP protection would not be interested in protecting their intellectual property in any of the ways provided, while one in six (15%) do not know in which ways they would be interested in protecting its ideas, innovation and creation.

Figure 4.6: In which of the following ways, if any, would your business be interested in protecting its ideas, innovation and creations?

Copyright	11%
Confidentiality agreements/non-disclosure agreements	11%
Registered trade mark	10%
Registered design rights	6%
Trade secrets	6%
Patent	5%
Unregistered design rights	2%
Unregistered trade marks	2%
Other	0%
Don’t know	15%
My business would not be interested in protecting its intellectual property in any of the above ways	54%

Source: Q20. In which of the following ways, if any, would your business be interested in protecting its ideas, innovation and creations? Base: All non-users of IP protection (n= 326)

As would be expected, businesses that claim to be very familiar with IP are more likely to be interested in protecting their ideas, innovation and creations. For example, those that are familiar with IP (15%) are more likely to be interested in using copyright than those who are not familiar with IP (6%).

Similarly, businesses that claim to be very familiar (15%) with IP are significantly more likely to be interested in confidentiality agreements/non-disclosure agreements than those who are very unfamiliar (4%).

Businesses that are unfamiliar with IP are more likely than those that are familiar (20% versus 12%) to say they don’t know in which ways they would be interested in protecting their ideas, innovation and creations.

Additionally, businesses in maturity (63%) are more likely than those in growth (44%) to say they would not be interested in protecting their intellectual property, while businesses in growth are more likely than those in maturity (20% versus 5%) to be interested in copyright.

Section summary

Perceived barriers to the use of IP protection are similar both for businesses that already use IP protection and those that do not, with both subgroups saying they are discouraged by financial limitations and lack of knowledge and expertise, while more than half of non-users are not interested in protecting their IP in any of the ways provided. Among businesses that do use IP protection, two in five say they own IP that they have chosen not to register or enforce, a trend largely driven by sole traders and businesses that claim to be familiar with IP at an overall level, suggesting that this is a considered choice. The most common reason for this is cost, with lack of expertise and lack of time also a driving force behind businesses’ decisions or inability to protect or enforce IP.

Appendix

Role

Employed Full-time	51%
Employed Part-time	10%
A Business Owner	17%
A Sole Trader / Contractor / Consultant / Freelancer	22%

Source: S1. Are you…? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Employee

C-Suite (for example, CEO, COO, CFO)	14%
Director	30%
Senior-management	24%
Mid-management	32%

Source: S2. Which of the following best describes your job level? Base: All employees (n=662)

Operating time

< 2 years	8%
2-5 years	25%
6-9 years	25%
10-15 years	17%
16-20 years	8%
20+ years	15%

Source: S5. How many years has your business been operating? Base: All respondents (n=1081)

Sector

Private sector	97%
Not-for-profit sector	3%

Source: S6a. Do you work in the…? Base: All employees (n=662)

Breakdown of UK businesses by size, region and sector^{[footnote 2]}:

Number of employees	Total	Proportion of SMEs	Responses	Response %
Sole trader	4,061,035	74%	304	28%
1-9 – Micro business	1,187,045	22%	314	29%
10-49 – Small business	217,240	4%	259	24%
50-249 – Medium-sized business	35,940	1%	204	19%

Business region	Total	Proportion of SMEs	Responses	Response %
North East	154,870	3%	40	4%
North West	512,290	9%	126	12%
Yorkshire and the Humber	385,030	7%	104	10%
East Midlands	367,460	7%	86	8%
West Midlands	436,585	8%	79	7%
East of England	542,220	10%	90	8%
London	1,036,315	19%	179	17%
South East	842,800	15%	147	14%
South West	536,925	10%	82	8%
Wales	218,440	4%	45	4%
Scotland	340,340	6%	90	8%
Northern Ireland	127,995	2%	13	1%

Business sector	Total	Proportion of SMEs	Responses	Response %
Production	423,120	8%	205	19%
Construction	914,175	17%	213	20%
Distribution	1,105,875	20%	222	21%
Business Services	1,780,540	32%	224	21%
Other services	1,277,545	23%	217	20%

Spanish Patent and Trademark Office *[IPO]: Intellectual Property Office *[SME]: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises *[SIC]: Standard industrial classification of economic activities

1. SIC Codes: Standard industrial classification of economic activities (SIC) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) ↩

2. [Business population estimates 2022] (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2022) ↩