Chamber Study Highlights New Jersey’s Innovative Contributions
WASHINGTON, DC-The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) today released a report highlighting New Jersey’s contributions to America’s innovation economy. This study is part of GIPC’s State Fact Sheets, which provide a look at the roles innovation and creativity play in each state. The report highlights local companies and facts demonstrating how innovation and creativity-which are safeguarded by strong IP rights-serve as a driving force behind economic recovery and future growth.
“New Jersey is a leader in America’s innovative economy,” said Dr. Mark Esper, executive vice president of the Chamber’s GIPC. In 2007 alone, New Jersey ranked 4th in the nation with 3,154 patents granted.
“Innovation and creativity play a vital role in New Jersey’s economic development,” added Esper. In 2004 alone, film production contributed more than $80 million to the state’s economy. In addition, New Jersey employed 205,700 high-tech workers in 2006, who earned $18.4 billion in wages.
Esper noted examples of innovation and creativity in New Jersey. Biotech companies based in New Jersey spent $1.2 billion in 2007 on research and development. New Jersey is home to some of the world’s leading health care products companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Wyeth, and Merck & Co., Inc.
“Indeed New Jerseyans are proven innovators,” said Esper. “Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in his famous Menlo Park’s ‘invention factory’ in 1876. Lloyd Conover, a New Jersey researcher, invented tetracycline, which became the most prescribed antibiotic in the U.S. three years after its invention in 1923. America has a unique story to tell, and New Jersey plays a large role in this story.”
The New Jersey State Fact Sheet is intended to be a resource for legislators, policymakers, and the public to identify successful companies, inventors, creative artists, and innovators to better understand the role they play in our economy and society. As part of an easy-to-use, interactive map, the State Fact Sheet project can be accessed online at www.theglobalipcenter.com, as well as in a printable format.
The Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center is working around the world to champion intellectual property (IP) as vital to creating jobs, saving lives, advancing global economic growth, and generating breakthrough solutions to global challenges.
The U.S. Chamber is the world’s largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.
For more information, contact Trinh Nguyen at (202) 463-5379.
