During his campaign for the Presidency, Barack Obama, at a San Francisco fundraiser, referred to working class voters as follows, “So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” Those frustrations are understandable. Products that were once made in this country are now made abroad and the jobs making those products have been sent abroad as well. I have owned three Ford Escorts; the first (model year 1981) was made in New Jersey, the second (model year 1989) was made in Michigan and the third (model year 1999) was made in Hermosillo, Mexico. Boeing’s latest and most advanced airliner, the 787, has its wings manufactured by Japanese companies in Nagoya, Japan; its horizontal stabilizers manufactured by Alenia Aeronautica in Italy and sections of the fuselage manufactured by Alenia in Italy and Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan. The list of products, including food products, formerly manufactured in the United States but now made in China is copious.
But one thing the United States does produce, and export, in great quantities is intellectual property. As set forth in House of Representatives Resolution 314 (April 17, 2007), it is the only sector of our economy that runs a trade surplus with every nation in the world and over 50 percent of United States exports rely on some form of intellectual property. According to that resolution, intellectual property assets represent more than 17 percent of our national gross domestic product. While we may drive Japanese cars, Apple computer on-line stores may be found in 25 foreign countries and Apple brick and mortar stores found in Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy. Starbucks may be found in 24 foreign countries, Staples stores may be found in the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal and Canada and McDonald’s are ubiquitous abroad, found in just about every country that the U.S. has diplomatic relations with outside of Africa. And these examples are just illustrative of the value of some of our most recognized trademarks abroad. Copyrighted material, including Hollywood’s movies, Microsoft’s software, and our music make their way both legally and illegally to consumers throughout the world. As an example,see the following photo taken at the Residenzstrasse subway station in Berlin, Germany. How many foreign films, dubbed into English, can most Americans remember seeing? Half of all patents issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 2007 were of American origin.
So, while some of us may be bitter, if Barack is correct in his observation, there’s no reason to be bitter about our exports of our intellectual products. New York Times columnist David Brooks noted in his May
2, 2008column that, “In order to thrive, people are compelled to become better at absorbing, processing and combining information.” In order for our economy to thrive, it is imperative that the owners of that information protect their rights to it. My business is assisting you to grow your business by protecting your most valuable assets, your know-how, your creative works and your business and product identities that symbolize your goodwill.
