The Intellectual Property (IP) Attaché Program was established by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to assist U.S. stakeholders in other countries and improve IP systems worldwide. Operating across five continents, the IP attachés are diplomats with IP expertise assigned to U.S. embassies and consulates throughout the world. The IP Attaché Program epitomizes the USPTO’s mission of “foster[ing] innovation, competitiveness and economic growth, domestically and abroad, … guiding domestic and international intellectual property policy, and delivering intellectual property information and education worldwide.” IP protection affects commerce throughout the economy in a variety of ways, including: (i) providing incentives to invent and create; (ii) protecting innovators from unauthorized copying; (iii) facilitating financial investments in innovation; (iv) supporting startup liquidity and growth; (v) making licensing-based technology business models possible; and (vi) enabling technology transfer and trading in technology and ideas. The economic contributions of innovation and IP protection to the U.S. economy are profound. Innovation is a crucial driver of competitiveness, growth, and value. IP-intensive industries, measured by R&D expenditure, enjoy higher productivity and greater competitiveness than non-IP intensive industries. Additionally, in the United States, small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy: they create approximately two-thirds of net new jobs, and drive U.S. innovation and competitiveness. Small businesses account for 44% of U.S. economic activity and they often depend on IP protection for their survival.According to the principle of territoriality, IP rights are enforceable only in the country where they have been granted. Even though some minimum standards for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights exist under treaties or other international agreements, there is no automatic worldwide protection of intellectual property rights. That is precisely where IP attachés can assist businesses with international IP protection. This paper analyzes recent data and presents case studies related to the IP Attaché Program’s assistance to U.S. stakeholders, as part of the USPTO mission. It concludes that, in its fifteen years of existence, the IP Attaché Program has provided significant benefits to U.S. stakeholders, working in collaboration with other U.S. government agencies. The IP attachés spread their intellectual property expertise across the globe, cultivate relationships, and provide a variety of services to a wide spectrum of U.S. stakeholders, including large companies, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), industry associations, law firms, and academia. The assistance is provided across a broad range of industry sectors. The data highlight the variety of IP issues that the attachés support, the volume of support that the attachés provide, the impact of the domestic outreach on our stakeholder assistance, and the high quality of the services
