Purpose—To invest in intellectual property and disclose it, internally and externally, is a strategic decision towards the creation of a sustainable value added, at a firm or even at a macroeconomic level. The multiple insights achieved reinforce the paradigm that intangibles are the main structural support for economic growth. However, those intangibles should be measured on a feasible basis towards the business comprehensiveness as required by main accounting standards. Companies and countries should monitor and report their innovation cycles in order to increase their turnovers. Design/methodology/approach—Based on intellectual property literature review and on data provided by Eurostat, regarding the investment intensity in research and development (R&D), we focused on the developments occurred in Europe, for the period 1998-2007. Discussion around measurement approaches were also stated out. We searched for a practical interaction between the number of atents effectively registered in the main international offices and its innovation turnover rate. At a macroeconomic level, the intensity of R&D investment is managed as a key issue which still drives the asymmetries between nations and regions. Originality—An overview is provided concerning innovation expenditures and its contribution to the intellectual property standards. Discovering and learning about intellectual property can reflect the companies and nations adaptive capacity, both internally and externally. However, the goal set out in the Lisbon’s strategy for 2010, is not aligned with the year-to-date innovation turnover rates. Findings—Given the strong intensity and consistency in allocating resources (and their spillovers), to invest in R&D stands for the most intensive step towards an integrated intellectual property scorecard reporting. The income based approach is the one that better matches the true return of innovation. At a macroeconomic level, Europe is still driving innovation through an idiosyncratic policy on the way to a theoretical convergence and tenuous innovation turnover standard.

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Intellectual property,Intangibles,Financial reporting,Innovation,Measurement

• Economics and Business - Social Sciences