April 26, 2022 

Dear Director-General Daren Tang, 

As a global coalition of 106 public policy organizations from 51 countries, we are pleased to celebrate World Intellectual Property Day alongside WIPO once again.

This year’s theme, “IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future,” is particularly important as young people continue to be a driving force of innovation as consumers, content creators, inventors, and artists. At the same time, the world is emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic emboldened by decades of breakthrough research that has resulted not only in effective vaccines and therapeutics, but their mass production on a global scale––accomplishments only possible thanks to robust intellectual property rights.

The intellectual property protections of today ensure that tomorrow’s young people will continue to witness accessible quantum leaps from healthcare to space travel.

IP Promotes the Next Generation of Innovation:

More must be done to promote and protect IP rights for young people. A working paper from the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) indicated that 42 percent of innovations were created by inventors in their 30s and 40 percent by inventors in their 40s. A 2008 survey of patent holders similarly found that the average age of inventors was 47 in the United States and 39.5 in Japan. Notably, the oldest members of the millennial generation have already surpassed age 40 and the rest are rapidly nearing this peak age range for new innovations.

However, more recent research suggests that most investors file their very first patent in their late 20s to early 30s.  Indeed, it is part of a new trend, the average age at first patent for inventors between 2006 and 2016 was lower than that of investors between 1996 and 2005.  As millennials approach the average age for major inventions and Generation Z approaches the average age for a first patent filing, we must ensure that these generations and the future generations continue to enjoy and value a global system of robust intellectual property rights. 

IP Rights Create Jobs.
IP-intensive industries play a central role in job creation. In the United States, IP-intensive industries account for 44 percent of total employment, and jobs in these industries come with a 60 percent weekly wage premium over jobs in other industries. As of 2019, IP-intensive industries represented 83.3 million jobs in the European Union, or 38.9 percent of total employment. These jobs came with a 47 percent wage premium over jobs in non-IP-intensive industries in the EU.

In the G8 countries, copyright-intensive industries by themselves account for 3 to 8 percent of all employment, including 3 percent of employment in Japan, 5.4 percent in Canada, 6.5 percent in the European Union, 7.3 percent in Russia, and 8.5 percent in the United States. In the developing world, copyright-intensive industries account for approximately 3 to 11 percent of total employment, including 5 percent in Brazil, 5.8 percent in Colombia, and 11 percent in Mexico. Workers and innovators in nations of all levels can benefit from the improved job prospects that result from strong IP protections.

IP Rights Boost Trade and Guard Against Illicit Trade:

The importance of IP protections is underscored by the dominance of IP-intensive industries in driving imports and exports. For instance, in the European Union, 54 percent of service exports and a tremendous 96 percent of exported goods originate from IP-intensive industries. Similarly, 57 percent of service imports and 89 percent of goods imports into the EU are from IP-intensive industries. 

The prevalence of IP-intensive trade underscores the importance of Free Trade Agreements and the WTO-administered TRIPS agreement to expand protections and harmonize enforcement of IP rights. Rules-based trade that is focused on intellectual property is key to tackling counterfeiting and other illicit trade. The International Chamber of Commerce reports that counterfeiting and piracy result in over $100 billion USD of excess costs and as many as 2.5 million lost jobs in the G20 countries alone.

As calculated in the 2021 International Property Rights Index, stronger property rights protections in a particular country have a very strong correlation (r2 = 80.7 percent) to lower levels of illicit trade in that country. Likewise, the International Trade Barrier Index finds a robust relationship between trade facilitation, including enforcement of FTAs, and combatting illicit trade.

Counterfeit and illicit goods often carry higher levels of health risks and tax evasion, benefit criminal networks, and harm artists. Troublingly, a report from the EU Intellectual Property Office found that 60 percent of young people were not concerned if their online purchases were of fake products, while 12 percent intentionally bought counterfeit products online. Protecting intellectual property rights requires enforcement, focused measures in FTAs, and communicating their value to young people and the general public.

IP Rights Promote Economic Growth:

Intellectual property protections are also important for promoting economic growth. The United States Patent and Trademark Office found that IP-intensive industries contribute $7.8 trillion USD to the U.S. economy, or nearly 41 percent of total U.S. GDP. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) further reported that these innovative industries account for over 40 percent of U.S. economic growth.

The role of robust IP protections is clearest when contrasting country scores and their World Bank income classification. According to the 2021 International Property Rights Index, high-income countries’ scores were 33.5 percent stronger than the average score of upper-middle-income countries and 66.1 percent stronger than the average score of low-income countries. This IP protection gap must be closed.

One key driver of economic growth in developing nations is the effect of intellectual property rights on foreign direct investment (FDI). Referring to the Park- Patent Index, the OECD found “a 1% increase in the strength of patent protection correlates to a 2.8% increase in FDI. A similar increase of trademark and copyright protections correlates to a 3.8% and a 6.8% increase in FDI, respectively.”

WIPO Ensures the Protection of IP:

The World Intellectual Property Organization is a key institution in global discussions about intellectual property policies within and between nations. By providing services for patents, trademarks, and other forms of IP and providing a forum for arbitration and mediation of IP disputes, WIPO can effectively assist nations in forming ideal systems and laws of their own to facilitate strong protection of IP rights.

On this World Intellectual Property Day, we urge WIPO, along with other international organizations, national governments, and policymakers around the world, to continue to promote policies which strengthen intellectual property protections and ensure that a healthy innovation environment can thrive for today’s youth and for generations to come.

Cc: Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General; Dr. Ngozi Oknojo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organization (WTO); Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) 

Signed, 

Jonas Torrico 
Executive Director, Asociacion Argentina de Contribuyentes 

Alberto Cohan
President, Asociacion Civil "Rio Parana" 

Frank Zimmerman 
Director, Federalismo y Libertad 

Martin Simonetta 
Executive Director, Fundacion Atlas 

Francisco Isetta 
President, Fundacion FREE 

Federico Fernandez 
President, Fundacion Internacional Bases 

Garret Edwards
Director of Legal Research, Fundacion Libertad 

Aldo Abram 
Executive Director, Fundacion "Libertad y Progreso" 

Maria L. Vazquez 
Dean, Universidad San Andres 

Armen Arzumanyan 
Chairman, Institute of Nations Development Foundation 

Brian Marlow
President, Australian Taxpayers' Alliance 

Barbara Kolm 
Director, Austrian Economics Center 

Gunther Fehlinger 
Chairman, Europeans for Tax Reform 

Richard Zundritsch 
Board Member, Friedrich A.v. Hayek Institut 

Pieter Cleppe 
Editor-in-Chief, Brussels Report 

Margherita Saltini
Secretary General, Democratic Youth Community of Europe 

Antonio Picasso 
Director, For Free Choice Institute 

Witold de Chevilly 
Executive Director, New Direction 

Sergio Daga 
Vice-Rector, Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra 

Vladimir Maciel 
Head, Centro Mackenzie de Liberdade Economica 

Beatriz Nobrega de Sa
Chief of Legislative Affairs, Instituto Cidadania Digital 

Troy Lanigan 
President, Canada Strong and Free Network 

Scott Hennig 
CEO, Canadian Taxpayers Federation 

Peter Holle
President, Frontier Centre for Public Policy 

Andres Barrientos 
President, Ciudadano Austral 

Jose Francisco Lagos
Executive Director, Instituto Res Publica 

Natalia Gonzalez 
Director of Constitutional Affairs, Libertad y Desarrollo 

Carlos Augusto Chacon Monsalve
Academic Director, Instituto de Ciencia Politica Hernan Echavarria 

Camilo Guzman 
Executive Director, Libertank 

Mate Curic 
Secretary General, Center for the Renewal of Culture 

Monika Melo 
Vice Chancellor for Research, Instituto OMG 

Jose Andrade 
Executive Director, Instituto Ecuatoriano de Economia Politica 

Mahmoud Farouk 
Founder, Egyptian Center for Public Policy Studies 

Nicolas Lecaussin 
Director, IREF Europe 

Paata Sheshelidze 
President, New Economic School 

Wolfgang Muller 
General Director, Institute for Free Enterprise 

Michael Jaeger 
Secretary General, Taxpayers Association of Europe 

Alexander Skouras 
President, Center for Liberal Studies 

Maria Andrea Caceres 
Executive Director, Observatiorio de Derechos de Propiedad 

Guillermo Pena 
President, Fundacion Eleutera 

Ho Man Kit 
Convener, Momentum 107 

Parth Shah
Founder & Managing Trustee, Centre for Civil Society 

Rainer Heufers 
Executive Director, Center for Indonesian Policy Studies 

Gary Kavanaugh 
Director, Edmund Burke Institute 

Pietro Paganini 
Chair & Curiosity Officer, Competere.eu 

Cesare Galli 
Founding and Managing Partner, IP Law Galli 

Daniele Capezzone 
Founder, Mercatus 

Masaru Uchiyama 
President, Japanese for Tax Reform 

Yuya Watase 
Chairman, Pacific Alliance Institute 

Carmelo Ferlito 
CEO, Center for Market Education 

Tricia Yeoh 
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) 

Roberto Salinas 
Executive Director, Atlas Network, Center for Latin America 

Khaliun Chimeddorj 
General Manager, Silk Road Foundation 

Slobodan Franeta
Chairman, Global Communication Network 

Deependra Chamlagain

Director, Samriddhi Foundation

Jordan Williams
Executive Director, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Institute

Raza Ullah
President, Alternate Solutions Insitute

Ali Salman
President, Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME)

Omar Shaban
Director, Palthink for Strategic Studies

Federico Rebino
CEO, Instituto Fernando de la Mora

Jose Ignacio Beteta
Asociacion de Contribuyentes de Peru

Jose Tapia
Executive Director, Instituto de Libre Empresa

Bienvenido Oplas, Jr.
President, Minimal Government Thinkers

Marcin Nowacki
Head, European Enterprise Alliance

Tomasz Wroblewski
Warsaw Enterprise Institute

Milos Nikolic
President, Libek

Stefan Acimovic
European Programs Manager, Students for Liberty

Tanja Porcnik
President, Visio Institut

Chris Hattingh
Board Member, Free Market Foundation

Ignacio Arsuaga
President, CitizenGo

Diego Sanchez de la Cruz
CEO, Foro Regulacion Inteligente

Javier Santacruz
Senior Economist, Fundacion Civismo

Anders Ydstedt
Chairman, Svensk Tidskrift

Ho-Don Yan
Professor, Feng Chia University

Kriengsak Chareonwongsak
President, Institute for Future Studies For Development

Bican Sahin
President, Freedom Research Association

Nataliya Melnyk
Executive Director, Bendukidze Free Market

Julia Kril
President, Bringing Europeans Together

Philip Stevens
Executive Director, Geneva Network

Alexander Hammond
Director, Initiative for African Trade & Prosperity

Christopher Snowden
Head of Lifestyle Economics, Institute for Economic Affairs

John O’Connell
Chief Executive, Taxpayers’ Alliance

Christina Bereceht
Secretary General, World Taxpayers Associations

Michael Bowman
President, ALEC Action

Krisztina Pusok
Director or Policy and Research, American Consumer Institute

Lisa B. Nelson
CEO, American Legislative Exchange Council

Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform

Timothy Lee
Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs, Center for Individual Freedom

Sean O’Connor
Professor & Faculty Director, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

Tom Schatz
President, Citizens Against Government Waste

Matthew Kandrach
President, Consumer Action for a Stronger Economy

Luca Bertoletti
Senior Government Affairs Manager, Consumer Choice Center

Katie McAuliffe
Executive Director, Digital Liberty

Stephen Exell
Vice President, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation

Tom Giovanetti
President, Institute for Policy Innovation

Alejandro A. Chafuen
President, International Freedom Educational Foundation

Izabela Patriota
Institutional Relations Associate, Ladies of Liberty Alliance

Lorenzo Montanari
Executive Director, Property Rights Alliance

Karen Kerrigan
President & CEO, Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

David Williams
President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Ashley Baker
Director of Public Policy, The Committee for Justice

Alonso Dominguez
Director, A.C. Liberazgo y Vision

Rocio Guijarro
General Manager, CEDICE Libertad

Luis Mena
Executive Director, CIVITAS Venezuela, AC

Sary Levy
Economist, National Academy of Economic Science (ANCE)

Moses Sinkala
CEO, Center for Liberty and Enterprise Development

Click Here for a PDF Copy