US Tops GIPC 2017 IP Index Rankings; India Near Bottom

India again ranked near the bottom among 45 “global economies” included in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center’s annual IP index report. GIPC ranks the 45 countries based on patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, enforcement and international treaties. GIPC ranked India at 43, ahead of Pakistan and last-place Venezuela. India ranked in either last place or next-to-last in GIPC’s previous four index reports. The U.S., UK, EU-member nations and Japan continued to rank at the top of the index, with those nations holding all but two of the top 10 spots. The U.S. ranked No. 1, and Singapore and South Korea ranked at No. 8 and 9, respectively. “Emerging markets, such as India, have made incremental gains and embraced positive rhetoric with their IPR [intellectual property rights] policies, but they have not yet followed up with the legislative reforms innovators need,” said GIPC Executive Vice President Mark Elliot in a news release. “Some developed countries, including Canada and Australia, continue to implement policies that undermine their proud traditions of IP-led innovation. And even world leaders such as the U.S. have room to grow and improve.”