A quarter of businesses with intellectual property have had their patent violated over the past 5 years, according to research by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
The survey found that almost 1 in 3 businesses with intellectual property rely on it to generate between 75% and 100% of their revenue.
Despite this, less than a third of businesses (29%) who had intellectual property stolen took action against the culprits.
The most common means of intellectual property theft are:
- copying a product (50%)
- using copyrighted work on a website (34%) or service or product (33%)
- using a trademark (31%).
John Allan, national chairman of the FSB, said:
“Left unchecked, theft and infringement of ideas, patents and brand costs small businesses and diminishes their appetite to invest in their business, ultimately hampering the UK’s long-term economic growth.”
Profiting from your patents
The patent box scheme allows businesses with intellectual property to apply for a corporation tax rate of 10% on profits derived from their patents.
To benefit from the scheme, your business must:
- own or exclusively license-in a patent granted by the UK Intellectual Property Office, the European Patent Office or patent offices in certain countries in the European Economic Area
- make profits from the patent
- have contributed to the invention
- pay corporation tax.
