Abstract Title: Support for Innovation and Obstacles to Intellectual Property Registration: the case of Ecuador Using data from the 2015 Ecuadorian Innovation Survey and through the inverse probability weighting methodology, we analyze the impact of innovation support programs on the perception of companies on the obstacles that emerge when registering intellectual property. The results indicate that participating in programs reduces the perception of all obstacles, although only for those companies that use formal appropriation mechanisms to protect their innovations. Additionally, it is observed that programs reduce the perception of obstacles associated with the registration of patents, utility models and industrial designs more than those associated with the registration of trademarks. Based on these results, the suitability of support programs to facilitate the intellectual property registration process is discussed.