The Economics of The Economics of TrademarksTrademarks

The Development Dimension The Development Dimension and the Role of WIPOand the Role of WIPO

Alicante, June 5 and 6, 2008

Esteban BurroneWIPO

BackgroundContext

• Following IP legislation reform since the mid-1990s increasing attention to development impact of IP system

• Interaction of IP with other areas of public policy (e.g. public health) has brought issue to the limelight and attracted much interest among policy-makers and civil society

• Increasing importance of intangibles in knowledge economy combined with limited use of system by domestic enterprises has raised many concerns

WIPO

• Increasingly asked to work with countries to understand the development impact of the IP system (e.g. WIPO Development Agenda adopted in Sept. 2007)

• Very limited empirical research on IP in dev-ing countries (almost none on TMs)

• Yet TMs are widely used (and registered) in many developing countries

• WIPO has launched a series of programs to promote more empirical economic research on IP in developing countries

• What type of empirical research on TMs could be done in dev-ing countries?

Use of Trademarks in Developing Countries

Evidence from national IP officesShare of TMs and patents in total number of resident IP titles granted in 2005

Source: WIPO IP Statistics, 2005

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Peru Mexico Philipp. Brazil Morocco China Algeria

patents trademarks

Use of Trademarks in Developing Countries

Evidence from national IP offices

10%

8%

1%

1%

2%

6%

2%

10%

39%

13%

14%

28%

53%

64%

64%

67%

70%

84%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Algeria

Morocco

Philippines

Peru

Turkey

Thailand

Mexico

Brazil

China

patents trademarks

Share of residents in total trademarks registered and patents granted (latest available year)

Use of Trademarks in Developing Countries

Evidence from innovation surveys in Latin AmericaBrazil (2001-2003)

Use of appropriability mechanisms by firms succeeding in commercializing / using at least one innovation during the relevant period

Colombia (2003-2004)

0.6

0.7

1

1.2

2.8

16.9

0 5 10 15 20

Utility models

Copyright

Industrial designs

Software registry

Patents

Trademarks

Source: López and Orlicki, 2007, based on data from DANE-DNP-COLCIENCIAS (2005)

Use of appropriability mechansms by firms

undertaking innovation activities

Source: López and Orlicki, 2007 based on data from IBGE (2005)

Possible Research Areas on TMs in Developing Countries

• Trademarks as innovation indicators: particularly relevant in developing countries?

• Trademarks and firm performance: To what extent does trademark activity correlate with indicators of firm performance in a developing country context?

• Trademarks and Trade: what is the relation between TMs and trade? To what extent do trade flows correspond to flows in trademark registrations? Does this vary across sectors? What is the situation for developing countries? Can easier access to TM registration abroad facilitate export market entry? (Baroncelli, Fink and Javorcik, 2003)

• Trademarks and catching up economies: Do catching-up economies experience an increase in resident trademark applications prior to an increase in resident patent applications (e.g. China in Centi and Rubio, 2005)?

Possible Research Areas on TMs in Developing Countries

• Trademarks and global value chains: Manufacturers in some sectors in developing countries participate in global value chains but are often not in a position to place their own trademark on their products. Could the rise of trademarks in such sectors be an indicator of greater local value added?

• Trademarks and FDI: what is the possible impact of stronger trademark protection (and enforcement?) on FDI in developing countries?

WIPO Trademark Statistics

Information available on:

Patent Applications and GrantsPCT SystemTrademark Applications, Registered Trademarks, Trademarks in Force*Utility modelsDesignsPlant varietiesMicroorganisms

Classified by:OfficeCountry of Origin of the ApplicantOffice and Class (Nice Classification)Resident, Non-Resident and Madrid System ApplicationsData from:National/Regional Trademark OfficesMadrid System*Country information may be missing for a particular

year if no communication from the national office was received