Survey: US 19th In Global IP Protection

The United States, often seen as toughest on other nations for their perceived failure to protect US intellectual property rights, was itself 19th [note: corrected from earlier version] in the world in such protection last year, according to the latest World Economic Forum survey on competitiveness. Some of those scoring higher have been criticised in the past year by the US for lax IP protection. Overall, the US was replaced by Switzerland as the most competitive country.

WEF report here [pdf]. Full IP protection list on page 347.

WEF press release here.

The US Chamber of Commerce industry group in a blog post said the low ranking is evidence of the need for stronger protection measures by the United States in the international context (rather than within its borders), saying the survey captures the perception of others of the US “stance” on IP protection.

The top 50 from the survey:

1.02 Intellectual property protection
How would you rate intellectual property protection, including anti-counterfeiting measures, in your country? (1 = very weak; 7 = very

strong) | 2008–2009 weighted average

RANK COUNTRY/ECONOMY SCORE MEAN: 3.8
1 Singapore ………………………6.2
2 Sweden…………………………6.1
3 Finland…………………………..6.1
4 Switzerland ……………………6.1
5 Austria…………………………..6.1
6 Denmark ……………………….6.0
7 New Zealand………………….6.0
8 Luxembourg…………………..5.9
9 Netherlands……………………5.8
10 France …………………………..5.8
11 Puerto Rico ……………………5.8
12 Australia ………………………..5.8
13 Germany ……………………….5.7
14 Norway………………………….5.7
15 United Arab Emirates………5.6
16 Ireland …………………………..5.6
17 Iceland…………………………..5.5
18 Canada ………………………….5.5
19 United States …………………5.4
20 Japan…………………………….5.4
21 United Kingdom ……………..5.3
22 Belgium…………………………5.3
23 Hong Kong SAR……………..5.3
24 South Africa …………………..5.2
25 Bahrain ………………………….5.1
26 Oman ……………………………5.0
27 Taiwan, China…………………5.0
28 Barbados ……………………….4.9
29 Cyprus…………………………..4.7
30 Jordan …………………………..4.7
31 Saudi Arabia …………………..4.6
32 Namibia …………………………4.6
33 Portugal…………………………4.6
34 Estonia ………………………….4.6
35 Gambia, The…………………..4.6
36 Qatar …………………………….4.5
37 Malaysia ………………………..4.5
38 Slovenia…………………………4.5
39 Malta …………………………….4.4
40 Spain …………………………….4.3
41 Korea, Rep. ……………………4.2
42 Greece ………………………….4.1
43 Tunisia …………………………..4.0
44 Israel …………………………….4.0
45 China …………………………….4.0
46 Czech Republic ………………4.0
47 Kuwait …………………………..4.0
48 Mauritius ……………………….4.0
49 Botswana………………………3.9
50 Italy ………………………………3.9