Daren Tang, Director General of WIPO: “Barcelona’s innovation model works like an orchestra”

Barcelona is hosting the III Industrial Property European Forum, a key gathering that brings together global leaders in innovation, IP, and economic competitiveness. Among its headline participants is Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), who joins the event to discuss how cities and regions can harness intellectual property to scale science, technology, and groundbreaking ideas.

Tang leads WIPO at a moment when IP systems are reshaping how economies transition toward greener, more digital, and more knowledge-based models. His visit to Barcelona underscores the city’s growing role in Europe’s innovation landscape and Spain’s consolidation as a reference point in industrial property. In this conversation, he reflects on Catalonia’s innovation strengths, the role of IP in accelerating transformations, and what can help the region continue building global impact.

“Barcelona provides the conditions for teams to connect talent, companies and capital to move ideas forward”

Daren Tang, Director General of WIPO

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How does Catalonia turn innovation into real-world impact, and what role does IP play?

In Catalonia, innovation isn’t locked away in ivory towers or hidden inside corporate R&D labs – it is woven into everyday life. Barcelona’s innovation model works like an orchestra: different players with complementary skills work in harmony, with a firm foundation allowing new melodies to emerge and scale quickly.

And the data from WIPO’s Global Innovation Index 2025 backs up this claim. Barcelona is Spain’s top-ranked innovation cluster and is counted amongst the world’s top 100. Over the past five years, per million inhabitants, it has filed 435 international patent applications under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty, produced 6,016 scientific publications and generated 259 venture capital deals - a remarkably high rate for a cluster of its size.

This momentum comes from the tight interplay between researchers and businesses. Barcelona is home to fast-growing startups like TravelPerk, cutting-edge university labs and multinational firms such as Hewlett-Packard that are pushing ahead with next-generation technologies like 3D printing. Venture capital ensures that promising ideas don't fail from lack of funding, but get the resources they need to succeed.

International openness is another defining strength. Nearly a quarter of patent applications involve co-inventors from abroad, and a large share of scientific papers are co-authored with partners in Madrid, London or Paris. This level of collaboration raises research quality and helps promising ideas spread.

All of this depends on a reliable policy framework—and intellectual property (IP) provides that backbone. Strong IP systems give innovators the confidence to share, partner and invest, reducing friction as ideas move from experimentation to real-world impact.

How can IP support the green and digital transitions in Spain, Europe and cities like Barcelona?

Climate-related technology development is accelerating across Europe, as evidenced in a 2024 WIPO patent landscape report. So the innovation is there – it is about getting solutions from database to deployment, from patent to pavement.

Our WIPO Green database helps bridge this gap by connecting more than 140,000 green technologies with individuals, firms and public agencies looking for climate-friendly solutions. Barcelona is already well represented, with technologies ranging from smart-ventilation systems to “Cool Walks”, an app designed by the city’s urban development agency to map out walking routes shaded by trees in the hot summer.

On the digital side, Catalonia hosts Spain's supercomputing center and is pushing forward in smart mobility, AI-assisted healthcare, Industry 4.0, data-driven manufacturing, automated logistics and digital healthcare diagnostics.

IP provides the commercial certainty needed during these phases of transition to green and digital. In the context of digital innovation, for instance, IP ensures trust and clarity around data, software, AI and emerging technologies. It also facilitates cross-border partnerships and enables technologies to be deployed where they are needed the most.

What can help Barcelona build collaboration and growth, and how does IP contribute?

Barcelona provides the conditions for teams to connect talent, companies and capital to move ideas forward. As the city looks to build on its strengths, some factors can help guide the next stage of growth.

First, treat IP as a strategic tool and continue investing in IP capabilities. IP is not just legal protection – it is critical to how startups raise money, how researchers form partnerships and how companies enter new markets. Policymakers can support this by expanding access to training, advisory services and IP-based financing options.

Second, build on Barcelona’s collaborative culture. The city’s innovation clusters across biotech, digital health and advanced manufacturing already indicate an energized innovation ecosystem that is ready to back promising technologies and push them to scale. Clear licensing models, open-innovation approaches and well-structured research agreements could make it easier for collaboration to further flourish.

Third, lean into sustainability and technology transfer. Platforms such as WIPO Green, along with local-to-global innovation partnerships, could help ensure that solutions developed in the region can move quickly to real-world use, supporting progress in Europe and beyond.
Barcelona is already a world-class innovation hub. With a strategic approach to IP, it can define the industries of the future.