The United States was once again the top ranked country in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s annual Global IP Index for 2017, but the rankings are closer than ever. The closeness of the overall rankings was significantly influenced by the U.S. tumbling to 10th in terms of patents.

While the U.S. continues to take steps backwards a number of countries around the world have taken positive steps forward, including countries you might not ordinarily consider as patent friendly jurisdictions.

For example, China, Pakistan, the UAE and Sweden have all introduced new enforcement mechanisms and specialized IP courts to better combat counterfeiting and piracy. China is also on the verge of significant changes to their patent laws, which will specifically make both software and business methods patent eligible.

In 2016 many economies recognized the value of leveraging international partnerships through Patent Prosecution Highways (PPH). Countries such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines, and Vietnam all signed PPH agreements in 2016.

Join Gene Quinn, patent attorney and founder of IPWatchdog.com, for a free webinar webinar discussion – Global Patent Landscape: Where to File and Why – on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, at 12pm ET. Patrick Kilbride, the Executive Director of International Intellectual Property for the Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, will join Gene for this discussion. In addition to taking as many of your questions as possible, we will:

• Summarize the findings of the U.S. Chamber 2017 Global IP Index.
• Analyze the patent landscape in China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Mexico, Chile, UAE, Indonesia, and Europe.
• Discuss what is on the horizon for the rest of 2017.

CLICK HERE to WATCH THE WEBINAR.