Intellectual property rights and their role in the start-up bioeconomy – a success story?

Abstract

Biotechnological research is not only constantly improving knowledge about life, nature, environment, and disease, but also provides new ideas that can be converted into economically valuable assets. Nevertheless, the founding of start-up companies in Europe and the European Union is stalled, in particular because of lack of capital and less investment-friendly tax regimes. Not surprisingly, this leads to risk aversion of investors. One countermeasure could be to secure assets of a start-up company using a carefully chosen and thorough IP-strategy. This article analyzes the available systems with a view on start-ups, discusses possible strategies, and finally seeks to identify whether IP is actually benefitting start-ups in their business.

Keywords

• Start-ups
• Intellectual Property
• Patents
• Venture capital