Workshop on IP Valuation and IP-backed financing
Hosted by the EUIPO, under the EU-RoK IP Action, in collaboration with the European Commission and the Ministry of Intellectual Property (MOIP) of the Republic of Korea, this workshop served as a platform for exchanging best practices in IP valuation and IP-backed financing, two increasingly important areas for fostering innovation, competitiveness and access to finance for businesses.
The workshop featured insights from leading institutions, including the European Investment Fund (EIF), DG Grow, DG Connect, the EUIPO, the Korea Invention Promotion Association (KIPA), the Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KOTEC) and Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA).
This initiative aligns with the European Commission’s Start-up and Scale-up Strategy, under which the Commission and EUIPO are developing a framework for IP valuation and IP-backed financing. The goal is to enable credible, consistent, and scalable use of IP in financing across Europe, help innovative businesses secure growth capital, and strengthen Europe’s long-term competitiveness.
South Korea, a global leader in this field, offers valuable lessons through its Framework Act on IP (2010), which provides the legal foundation for IP financing and fosters a supportive environment involving public institutions, commercial banks, and private investors.
The workshop facilitated an exchange of best practices between European and Korean stakeholders, focusing on:
- Valuation methodologies (how to assess IP worth accurately),
- Governance structures (frameworks for oversight and decision-making),
- Accreditation systems (ensuring valuators meet high standards),
- Guarantee schemes (reducing risk for lenders),
- Quality assurance practices (maintaining reliability in IP-backed transactions),
- Lender confidence and IP-based collateralisation (using IP as security for loans).
The insights gathered will support the EU’s ongoing efforts to develop practical IP valuation methodologies, establish an EU expert pool of certified valuers, identify market segments suitable for future IP-backed finance pilot initiatives.