Launch of Hands-on IP Finance: Securing Loans with Your IP Assets

12 de diciembre de 2024

On 10 December, 2024, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched the Hands-on IP Finance: Securing Loans with Your IP Assets guide. The online launch event attracted 350 participants. This publication, the first of the Hands-on IP Finance series, aims to:

  • help businesses and entrepreneurs in leveraging their IP to secure loans;
  • learn how to navigate discussions with potential lenders; and
  • provide insights into the lending process.

During his opening address, Mr. Marco Aleman, Assistant Director General, IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector, WIPO, quoted WIPO’s latest World Intangible Investment Highlights – the aggregate investment in intangible assets went up from USD 2.9 trillion in 1995 to USD 6.9 trillion in 2023, more than doubling in real terms. Intangible investment grew three times faster than tangible investment between 2008-2023, proving resilient despite economic uncertainty and tighter monetary conditions.  

Ms. Lally Rementilla, BDC Capital, Canada then shared her extensive experience from an investor’s perspective on how to successfully access IP finance. She admitted that the fundraising process can be overwhelming, and that an entrepreneur needs to convince a lender with a lot of creativity, persuasion and determination that there is value in their IP portfolio. Fundraising is a form of financial and innovation storytelling. Her four-steps advice is, “Know your audience, tell your story, prove your story and make it happen”.

Following this was a lively discussion by a panel of three experts comprising Ms. Srividya Gopal, Kroll, Singapore, Mr. Martin Brassell, Inngot, UK and Prof. Chul Choi, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea. They provided many useful tips for creators, innovators and businesses on how to access funding using their IP assets.

Mr. Brassell, who is also the author of the guide, recounted the transformative trend in the UK, where big name lenders like HSBC and Natwest have started to provide financing to businesses who are leveraging their bankable IP assets. Typically, these are mid-market businesses who are in the post startup stage but have not yet reached the mature stage. To successfully access capital, businesses need to link the cashflow generated to their IP assets.

Prof. Choi emphasized the need for a business to strategize and structure the IP assets portfolio, as well as have access to the right IP expertise. He explained that the traditional lenders in the Republic of Korea were increasingly aware of the potential of IP and have started to provide IP-backed financing to deep tech startups and SMEs with good IP portfolios.

Ms. Gopal noted that one of the biggest changes over time has been the treatment of IP as part of the business and contributing to better profitability, growth rate and customer retention rather than just as an asset which can be taken out in a vacuum and sold. She observed that in the 1990s, the entertainment and music industries had successfully raised capital using their IP assets. Today, IP-backed financing is poised to become mainstream across many industries.