The 4th Edition of the U.S. Chamber International IP Index, Infinite Possibilities, maps the IP environment in 38 economies around the world, collectively accounting for nearly 85% of global gross domestic product (GDP). Each economy’s score is based upon 30 indicators spread across six categories – Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, Enforcement, and International Treaties.

Infinite Possibilities re-evaluates IP policies in the 30 economies from the 3rd edition and also includes 8 new economies: Algeria, Brunei, Ecuador, Israel, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and Venezuela. Additionally, the Index includes six new correlations on the relationship between strong IP rights and socio-economic benefits: access to finance, high-quality human capital, foreign direct investment attractiveness, inventive activity, advanced technology markets, and streamlined and enhanced access to creative content.

 

2016 U.S. Chamber Index Fact Sheet

Intellectual property fuels the creation of knowledge-based economies. By providing a legal infrastructure through which ideas can become products, robust IP systems foster innovation leading to economic growth, job creation, and sustained competitiveness in global markets. The U.S. Chamber’s International IP Index provides economies with a comprehensive roadmap to harnessing the benefits that robust IP systems provide.

The Index maps the IP environment in 38 economies around the world, collectively accounting for nearly 85% of global gross domestic product (GDP). Each economy’s score is based upon 30 indicators spread across six categories – Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, Enforcement, and International Treaties.

The 4th edition of the Index also includes an updated measure on physical counterfeiting to provide a more accurate estimate of the estimated level of counterfeiting in the economies benchmarked in the Index. An overall score approaching 30 is indicative of a highly robust IP system. The 4th Edition of the Index not only measures the relative strengths of each economy’s IP environment, but also demonstrates the benefits associated with those strengths. The Index includes six new correlations on the relationship between strong IP rights and socio-economic benefits, as well as updated statistical information for 13 of the correlations from the 3rd edition of the Index. The new correlations include:

• Access to finance: Economies with robust IP regimes are more likely to attract venture capital and private equity funding.
• High-quality human capital: Economies with favorable IP protection possess on average 2.5 times more R&D-focused personnel within their workforces.
• Foreign direct investment attractiveness: Economies with robust IP systems receive on average a 45% higher Standard and Poor’s credit rating than economies whose IP systems lag behind.
• Inventive activity: The top 10 economies in the Index exhibit patenting rates more than 30 times greater than the bottom 10 economies in the Index.
• Advanced technology markets: People and firms in economies scoring above the median level of the Index are 30% more likely to enjoy access to the most recent technological developments.
• Streamlined and enhanced access to creative content: Advanced and easy-access delivery of streaming services is three times greater in economies scoring above the median level of the Index than in those scoring below the median. Access in the top five economies is up to 25 times greater than in the lowest five.

Key Findings

The Index includes many examples of positive momentum in economies that have recognized the infinite possibilities provided by robust IP protections and invested in a stronger innovation ecosystem:

• The Canadian government extended the copyright term for sound recordings to 70 years and implemented ex officio authority for customs officials.
• The Indonesian government introduced implementing regulations for the 2014 Copyright Act, which create an online notification system for rights holders to request action against alleged infringing websites.
• In Israel, a new Index economy, 2014 reforms significantly enhanced the environment for patent protection. In particular, Israel has introduced patent restoration for biopharmaceuticals and regulatory data protection for submitted clinical data.
• Malaysia’s IP environment has improved gradually over the last four years, resulting in a cumulative increase in the country’s score. As a TPP negotiating partner, the IP standards within the agreement—once ratified and implemented—will further strengthen Malaysia’s IP environment.
• The UAE introduced a series of measures to deter TV piracy and combat the production and trafficking of counterfeit goods.

Other economies still have ample room to improve their IP environment in order to unleash the benefits of intellectual property:

• Broadly, a number of economies, including Brazil, Russia, China, India, and Indonesia, introduced or maintained policies tying market access to sharing of IP and technology. Such forced-localization policies tend to undermine the overall innovation ecosystem and deter investment from foreign IP-intensive entities.
• Copyright protection remains a particular challenge for many high-income economies in Europe, including Italy, Poland, Switzerland, and Sweden, particularly due to the absence of policies to more effectively combat online piracy.
• The Australian High Court reversed the earlier Federal Court ruling in D’Arcy v. Myriad Genetics, weakening the patentability of isolated-genetic material and biotechnology inventions.
• In Ecuador, another new Index economy, the government continues to actively pursue an innovation policy that in large measure undermines or weakens the protection of IP, including the active use of compulsory licenses for biopharmaceutical products.
• While the United States excels at promoting IP-intensive industries in many ways, enforcement related to trade secrets theft and counterfeit seizures remains a relative weakness, causing the U.S. to be ranked fifth in enforcement.

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