ICC Reports on I/P Growth

According to "Intellectual Property: Source of innovation, creativity, growth and progress," International Chamber of Commerce (August 2005):

"International Monetary Fund data shows that trade in patents grew almost twice as fast as trade in goods between 1988 and 1996. The intellectual property system also spurs economic development by providing the basis for business transactions such as licensing. The patent system facilitates technology transfer and foreign direct investment, as it provides reassurance to companies considering investing in a country. Patent databases provide a deep pool of technical information that countries can use to build up their technological capacity."

"In recent decades, the fraction of the total output of [the US] economy that is essentially conceptual rather than physical has been rising. The trend has, of necessity, shifted the emphasis in asset valuation from physical property to intellectual property and to the legal
rights inherent in intellectual property.” -- US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan,
27 February 2004