Today, Intellectual Property is also one of our nation's most important assets. Consider the economic contributions that many copyright-intensive industries make every year: $1.2 trillion from the biopharmaceutical sector in 2014, $15 billion from the recording industry in 2015 and $10.3 billion from the film industry that same year. And, these industries support 57.6 million American jobs.

Brian Pomper, executive director of ACTION for Trade, sat down with Inside Counsel to discuss the ways in which IP contributes to our country, as well as ways we can better protect it. ACTION is a new coalition of trade associations and businesses on a mission to implement better protections for U.S. IP while shaping trade policy.

“IP-intensive industries drive innovation in the U.S. and cement its role as the world's most innovative nation,” he said. “These industries invest more money in research and development than their peers. For instance, IP-intensive manufacturing firms spend nearly 12 times more on R&D per employee than non-IP industries.”