By Luis Ignacio Vicente, Strategic Counsel at PONS IP
A few days ago, the European Commission published its strategy to make the European Union the best place in the world to create, scale up and consolidate technology companies. This document is aligned with the diagnosis and recommendations contained in the reports on this subject coordinated by Enrico Letta, Manuel Heitor and Mario Draghi in recent months.
I had the opportunity to hear the first two speak at an event held at the CSIC a few weeks ago and Mario Draghi on 14 May at the Cotec Europa meeting chaired by King Felipe VI and the presidents of Italy and Portugal. The title of this event was “A Call to Action”. And that is the main idea of the reports: although time is running out, there is still an opportunity to position Europe in a context of socioeconomic growth while maintaining citizens’ rights and quality of life.
In the report now presented by the European Commission (technically known as COM (2025) 270 final), Brussels commits to transforming intangible capital into a real driver of growth. To this end, it becomes a key tool for European startups to scale up without leaving the continent.
For decades, intellectual property has been perceived by many entrepreneurs as an administrative procedure or legal defence. Today, the Commission is redefining it as a strategic asset, a funding tool, a bridge to commercialisation and a key to European technological sovereignty.
Those of us who have been trying to spread this idea in European forums for many years are delighted with this prominent positioning of IP as a lever for business and social growth.
The document highlights that many startups face difficulties in using their IP, such as patents, trademarks or know-how, as a guarantee to obtain funding. Among the obstacles are conservative banking practices, a lack of reliable IP valuation systems and low confidence in existing mechanisms.
In response, Brussels has announced a European framework for intellectual property valuation, to be developed in cooperation with the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) by 2027. This initiative seeks to standardise valuation criteria, increase the confidence of the financial system and open the door to new forms of funding, such as IP-backed loans or intangible asset-based funds.
The document acknowledges an alarming underutilisation of IP generated in universities. Only a third of patents registered by academic institutions are commercially exploited. The rest lie dormant in drawers.
To reverse this situation, the Commission will launch the “Lab to Unicorn” initiative in 2026, which includes a European licensing model, clear rules on shareholding and royalty sharing, and a programme to strengthen knowledge transfer offices (our KTOs).
In addition, a guide will be drawn up on the use of public aid to facilitate the assignment or licensing of IP from public bodies to startups, ensuring compliance with state aid rules.
Another area in which intellectual property will play a more active role is innovative government procurement. The aim is for public administrations to become early customers of innovative solutions developed by startups.
Brussels is preparing regulatory reforms to ensure that tenders include more flexible intellectual property clauses — preventing rights to innovative solutions from remaining exclusively in the hands of the public buyer — and encourage the shared use or partial assignment of rights.
As we highlighted in the working group on IP-based technological sovereignty, promoted by Cotec and coordinated by PONS IP, intellectual property is also becoming a geopolitical instrument. In sectors such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean energy and defence, the Commission advocates protecting IP rights developed with European funds and ensuring that they remain in European hands or under shared control.
In this regard, foreign investment controls and state aid rules will be applied more precisely to startups with strategic IP assets, especially in the case of acquisitions by non-EU players.
In a continent where more than 80% of the value of leading companies lies in intangible assets, converting intellectual property into a lever for growth and competitiveness is no longer optional, but a strategic obligation.
We can only hope that this approach, which we in Spain have been supporting through associations such as LES, FEI, Ametic, DigitalES and the CEOE itself, will be translated in the coming months into concrete measures that will put the management of intangible assets where it should have been for a long time.
Europe created the world’s first patent system in Venice in 1479, and this was a fundamental tool in sustaining the empire of the ‘Serenissima’, which ruled the Eastern Mediterranean for 300 years based on intangible assets.
Now is the time to seize that opportunity again and be aware that IP management is a strategic tool that needs to be taught in schools, and not just in business schools. Future generations will thank us for it.
