Here's the headline message from DOC's news release:
"The U.S. Department of Commerce today released a comprehensive report that finds that intellectual property (IP)-intensive industries support at least 45 million U.S. jobs and contribute more than $6 trillion dollars to, or 38.2 percent of, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). The report, a joint product of the Commerce Department's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA), serves as an update to the Intellectual Property and the U.S. Economy: Industries in Focus report released March 2012.
While IP is used in virtually every segment of the U.S. economy, the report identifies 81 industries that use patent, copyright, or trademark protections most extensively. These "IP-intensive industries" are found to be the source - directly or indirectly - of 45 million jobs, roughly 30 percent of all the jobs in this country. Some of the most IP-intensive industries include: software publishers, sound recording industries, audio and video equipment manufacturing, cable and other subscription programming, performing arts companies, and radio and television broadcasting."
Whenever you run across proposals, say, for example, the FCC's current proposal to mandate a new open standard video navigation device with a compulsory license, that would threaten IP rights, please keep in mind the economic contribution of the IP-intensive market segments.
Read the full Department of Commerce report here.
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