Yesterday the Administration’s Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, released an economic report on intellectual property-intensive industries and their impact on the U.S. economy. The report, “Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus” was written by the Department of Commerce, working with the President’s Council of Economic Advisors and the chief economists of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of Labor, and other Federal agencies. This report identifies the full range of sectors that generate intellectual property, as well as the jobs, exports, and wage premiums those sectors support.
The findings of this report underscore a key point included in the President’s Trade Agenda: “promoting [a] trade policy that keeps pace with 21st century innovation can support the growth of well-paying IP trade-related job in the United States.” Specifically, the report found that intellectual property is critical to our balance of trade, since goods from the IP-intensive industries account for 60% of all US merchandise exports, and 19% of our services exports. The study also shows that intellectual property is a key driver of our economy: IP-intensive industries create 27.1 million jobs and indirectly support another 12.9 million jobs. All told, nearly 30 percent of all U.S. jobs are directly or indirectly attributable to the IP-intensive industries. And these are jobs that pay well. The average weekly wage in the IP-intensive industries overall is 42% higher by 2010 and its 73% for patent industry jobs and 77% for copyright industry jobs.
The findings in this report highlight the importance of intellectual property through our economy. USTR will continue to grow and sustain innovative jobs through our trade agenda, including by advancing a robust intellectual property chapter in the TPP negotiations; ensuring that our trade agreements are properly implemented; and using the “Special 301” process of reporting on intellectual property protection and enforcement and bilateral engagement, to enhance the protection and enforcement of IPR in our trading partners, and ensure greater market access so that legitimate U.S. exports of IP-intensive products can reach global consumers.
