Feel the (Heart) Beat of IP: World IP Day, April 26, 2025
For World Intellectual Property Day 2025 on April 26, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has chosen the theme “IP and Music: Feel the Beat of IP.” At the Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity, we are modifying WIPO’s theme to “Feel the (Heart) Beat of IP” in order to highlight the importance of Intellectual Property in medical innovation.
Intellectual Property supports millions of jobs in the United States. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), IP-intensive industries account for 41 percent of the domestic economy. These industries account for more than 33 percent of total U.S. employment. The IP-heavy biopharmaceutical industry supported nearly 1.5 million jobs in the United States in 2021, with more than 5 jobs supported in the greater economy for every 1 job in the biopharmaceutical industry.
The biopharmaceutical industry is an especially important sector of growth in the U.S. economy and relies on IP protections to maintain its global preeminence. In just 2020, the biopharmaceutical industry spent 16.6 percent of its revenue on research and development, totaling almost $91.8 billion.
It’s worth noting that 44 percent of R&D companies have established their headquarters in the United States. Collectively, these U.S. companies are working on 53.4 percent of all drugs in the R&D stage in the world.
That’s right: Over half of the world’s R&D drugs are developed in the United States.
The strong IP environment that we enjoy in the United States is among the biggest incentives for the pharmaceutical industry to continue developing new drugs domestically.
To drill deeper, looking at just one medical specialty and the significance of IP to it: Of the 4,453,733 patents issued by the USPTO between 2005 and 2020, 31,048 (0.7 percent) were identified as cardiology-related patents. This is one of the most critically important areas of innovation for many Americans and, indeed, for people living everywhere in the world. Yet, the importance of IP extends well beyond heart drugs and devices to every area of healthcare innovation and drug development.
Not only is U.S. pharmaceutical innovation important in terms of its impact on the U.S. economy, but it is also significant for its impact on the global economy and global health. In 2021, for example, U.S. biopharmaceutical exports totaled over $92.5 billion. U.S. pharmaceutical companies’ products avert the loss of millions of disability-adjusted life years annually.
IP is at the heart of innovation.
TAPP invites everyone to join in the recognition of the importance of IP in pharmaceutical and medical innovation by amplifying our messages on social media. To use these images, just copy them and and then post them to X, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., with the messages that we’ve provided, or with your own message, and be sure to include the hashtag #WorldIPday in your post. Thank you!
Post 1:
Feel the (Heart) Beat of IP this #WorldIPday – More than 31,000 U.S. patents in 15 years were cardiology related.
IP truly is the heartbeat of innovation!
Post 2:
Feel the (Heart) Beat of IP.
New heart medicines. New cardiac devices. New cardiopulmonary therapies. Intellectual Property supports them all.
IP – the heartbeat of innovation. #WorldIPday
