The law firm of Taylor Wessing published its second annual Global Intellectual Property Index that concluded that the US remains on of the top tier countries in terms of intellectual property competitiveness.  Thousands of CEOs, intellectual property lawyers (both in-house and in law firms) were interviewed to compile the study. 

More specifically, the index rated 24 countries in terms of how well patents, trademarks, copyrights and other IP were obtained, exploited, enforced and attacked.  Two countries, the U.K. and Germany, outshined the U.S., but the U.S. remains a stalwart location to obtain and enforce IP rights.

It is interesting to consider one of the key conclusions from the survey, namely that cost is not necessarily a determinative factor in deciding where a company will obtain and enforce its IP:

“Even in today’s climate, cost not determinative - despite the pressures of the current economic climate, cost-effectiveness is not a determining factor in IP competitiveness. Jurisdictions with a perceived high cost of obtaining and enforcing IP, for example the UK and USA, are still ranked highly in the overall index.”

Counter to that conclusion is the numerous news articles reporting that IP work is on the move from larger, higher-priced coastal firms (NY, Boston, San Francisco, LA) to Midwestern firms with a lower cost base (for example, here).  One conclusion to be drawn is that, although the U.S. remains a popular location in which to obtain IP rights (because of its large market, among other factors), within the U.S., companies are recognizing that greater value can be achieved by eshewing the high overhead cities on the coasts.