A new study published by the EPO shows how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) use European Patents for commercialising their innovations. Patents are not only used as a means of protection against imitators, but they also represent an important instrument for resource-constrained SMEs to find partners whose support is crucial in enabling them to market their innovation, e. g. by licensing agreements, co-operations or spin-offs.

The key findings as well as the complete study can be found here (available only in English).