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World Intellectual Property Indicators 2024
World Intellectual Property Indicators is the annual survey of intellectual property (IP) activity around the world carried out by WIPO, the United Nations specialized agency for innovation and IP. This authoritative report analyzes IP activity around the globe. Drawing on 2023 filing, registration and renewals statistics from national and regional IP offices and WIPO, World Intellectual Property Indicators covers patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, microorganisms, plant variety protection and geographical indications.
Publication year: 2024
How to Make a Living from Music
Creative industries - third edition
Building a successful career in music includes managing intellectual property (IP) rights. WIPO supports authors and performers in enhancing their knowledge of the intellectual property aspects involved in their professional work. Copyright and related rights can help musical authors and performers generate additional income from their talent.
Are the best tunes played on the oldest fiddles? Distribution and digitization of recorded classical music
Economic Research Working Paper No.87
This research looks at the distributional effects of copyright when creative works are protected under multiple rights. It exploits a quasi-natural experiment and recent law changes introduced under EU Directive 77/2011 on the term of protection of copyright and related rights as well as variation in author death years. We examine the causal implications of copyright and related rights protection around music recordings vis-à-vis public domain status for the availability of classical music as physical and digital releases. Results suggest that public domain status of related rights favours the availability and re-releases of classical music in physical and digital formats. The emergence of music streaming services in EU member states and catalogue-wide licensing moderate effects over time. We however find little evidence that public domain status of author rights affects the distribution of classical music in digital or physical channels. We contemplate the implications of our results for intellectual property policy.
Closing Innovation and Intellectual Property Diversity Gaps: a Global Literature Review
Economic Research Working Paper No.86
Innovation is a driver of competitive advantage and economic growth, with patent rights playing a critical supporting role. However, differential access to patent rights and relatively less participation in innovation can affect women and people from other historically underrepresented groups, thereby hindering progress and limiting the potential economic benefits generated by innovation. This paper reviews the global literature on these “diversity gaps”, identifies their key drivers, and documents international policies and initiatives that show promise in addressing them. Building upon Shapanka and Fechner (2018), it expands the geographic scope and reinforces the scientific basis of their analysis. The paper also provides recommendations for a wide range of stakeholders and offers insights for fostering more inclusive and equitable innovation ecosystems.
Contracts in Publishing
A toolkit for authors and publishers
Contracts in Publishing: A toolkit for authors and publishers provides information on copyright-related aspects and contractual options in the publishing sector. With a balanced approach considering the interests of both authors and publishers, the publication offers guidance to building basic knowledge and skills for successful publishing, co-publishing and licensing deals, targeting an audience of authors, visual artists, translators and publishers, especially in developing countries.
Innovation and Intellectual Property Use in the Global Video Game Industry
Economic Research Working Paper No.85
This paper is an analysis of the evolution of the global video game industry, a sector characterized by rapid technological innovation and changing business models. It builds on the work of Özalp (2024) and delves into how innovation in hardware, software, digital transformation and business models have redefined the boundaries of game development and player experiences. The paper also explores the important job roles in the industry, the role of intellectual property and end with predictions for the future of the industry. It aims to provide an accessible understanding of the industry's evolution, its current state, and its potential future directions.
Heterogeneous Development Paths to Growth and Innovation: The Evolution of the Video Game Industry across Four Hubs
Economic Research Working Paper No.84
This study explores the evolution and success drivers of the global video game industry, focusing on key hubs within Finland, Poland, Japan, and the United States. Using a qualitative methodology, the research delves into how unique capabilities and historical development have contributed to the industry's growth across these nations. The findings reveal diverse pathways to building video game industry clusters, emphasizing the role of cross-industry skill transfer, intellectual property, and government support. In traditional hubs like Japan and the United States, the crossover of capabilities from entertainment and hardware industries has been crucial, whereas, in newer hubs like Finland and Poland, the growth is attributed to unique local developments such as hobby coder communities or leveraging the initial localization efforts to build globally appealing games. It further highlights the pivotal role of education in sustaining the growth of video game industry hubs.
The Evolution of the Two-Wheeler Industry: A Comparative Study of Italy, Japan, and India
Economic Research Working Paper No.83
This study leverages secondary data to provide a comprehensive outlook on the origin and evolution of the two-wheeler industry in Italy, Japan, and India. The study reveals how different technological, design, and manufacturing capabilities, combined with specific economic and social features in the historical contexts, have contributed to determine different trajectories in the evolution of these national industries. Recent trends towards digital transformation, electric mobility, connected driving are discussed. Three main takeaways emerge from our analysis. Firstly, the local capabilities play a crucial role in shaping both the origin and progression of the technology and the industry. Secondly, the two-wheeler industry displays patterns and trajectories that mimic the automotive industry, which can thus be used to interpret and forecast past, present, and future of motorcycles. Thirdly, the two-wheeler industry has been uniquely influenced by other industries, which has enhanced the complexity and effectiveness of its products and introduced novel elements which are reshaping the international demand for two-wheelers.
Innovation Complexity in AgTech: The case of Brazil, Kenya and the United States of America
Economic Research Working Paper No.82
This paper illustrates successful policies and incentives that build on local innovation capabilities across three agricultural innovation hubs at different income levels and across different geographical regions. It makes the case for how countries highly complex innovation ecosystems, which refer to the diversity and sophistication of local innovators and the types of innovation they produce, tend to have more opportunities to shift their technological path to the frontier. The paper focuses on three agricultural hubs across different income levels and geography to illustrate how smart policies that focus on building local capabilities can help countries diversify and create their own agricultural technological paths. These hubs include: São Paulo in Brazil, Nairobi in Kenya and Colorado in the United States of America.
Can we map innovation capabilities?
Economic Research Working Paper No.81
Recent years have witnessed a resurgence of industrial policies globally. Through various industrial policy instruments, governments make critical scientific and technological choices that shape innovation paths and resource allocations. Our paper explores innovation capabilities as essential drivers of competitive outcomes, spanning science, technology, and production domains. Based on the economic complexity literature, we propose a methodological framework to measure the innovation capabilities empirically, leveraging data on scientific publications, patents, and trade. Our findings highlight the multidimensional nature of innovation capabilities and underscore the importance of understanding both the specialization and quality of these capabilities. Our results are in line with the complexity literature, as we also find: (i) positive correlations between the innovation complexity and economic growth; and, (ii) the predictive power of existing innovation capabilities for fostering new ones. Based on these findings, we propose novel indicators informing innovation policymaking on the innovation potential across science, technology, and production fields of an ecosystem. We suggest that innovation policymaking needs to be informed by deeper insights into innovation capabilities that are crucial for long-term growth and competitiveness improvement.