When discussing intellectual property performance, patents usually dominate (Tether, 2007). The modes of protection more likely to be used in the creative industries, trademark and design registrations, are under studied and under reported(Schmoch, 2003, Mendonca, 2004). This may lead to a misunderstanding of the innovation impact of the creative industries, due to a bias in the indicators used, and also may be under representing indicators which may be closer to market indicators of innovation activity.

This study explores published evidence on patents, trademarks and design registrations over the period 1998 to 2002. There are significant contrasts between the relative levels of usage of all forms of intellectual property country-to-country, and notably, China is increasing its use of all forms over the period studied. Furthermore, evidence from the UK Community Innovation Survey indicates that trademarks may be a better discriminator between innovating and non-innovating firms. Finally, findings indicate that both design registrations and trademarks may be useful innovation indicators due to their closeness to market, accessibility and timeliness.