Intellectual Property as a Driver of Growth and Competitiveness: Challenges and Progress

Speaking at the 2019 World Intellectual Property Forum in Taiwan, Stephen Ezell explained why IP rights are vital to innovation and then highlighted a series of critical challenges, including lack of respect for IP rights, a growing narrative that IP harms societal interests, and increasing skepticism about IP rights within international organizations. Ezell then outlined a countervailing series of examples of global progress on IP rights and concluded with a series of recommendations for policymakers, including:

1. Pursue a whole of government “all points strategy” to engage globally on IP challenges.
2. Expand non agreement cooperation with countries effectively linking IP to innovation/economic growth.
3. Increase capacity building/technical assistance.