Icelandic companies that make intensive use of intellectual property rights contribute 39.6% of the GDP and create 29.2% of all jobs in Iceland. This is one of the findings in the EUIPO and EPO’s report on IPR-intensive industries and economic performance in the European Union, published in September.

This was the first time that Iceland was part of the EUIPO and EPO’s study, and their report showed that Icelandic companies that make intensive use of intellectual property rights contribute over 50,000 jobs in Iceland. Most of these are trademark-intensive companies (23% of jobs and 33.1% of GDP) while others are patent-intensive companies (6.6% of jobs and 9.4% of GDP), design-intensive companies (8.3% of jobs and 6.7% of GDP) and copyright-intensive companies (7.8% of jobs and 6.4% of GDP).

The study furthermore shows that wages in IPR-intensive industries are considerably higher than in other industries. IPR-intensive companies pay wages that are, on average, 47% higher than those of other companies. The figure is even higher for patent-intensive companies, where wages were 72% higher on average.

Borghildur Erlingsdóttir, Director General of the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office says: “The numbers clearly show how important intellectual property and intellectual property rights are to Icelandic industries and business. Intellectual property rights are essential business tools for Icelandic industries, as they encourage economic growth and create not only jobs but high-paying jobs in Iceland.”

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