The economic contribution of IPR-intensive industries in Uruguay

By Pittaluga Abogados

The objective of this study was to identify industries that use intellectual property rights (IPRs) intensively and to measure their economic contribution in Uruguay. It was designed to maximize comparability with recent efforts by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Patent Organisation (EPO) to quantify the importance of IPR-intensive industries in
the European Union and other Latin American economies. 

Main findings

-There are 173 IPR-intensive industries in the Uruguayan economy. Approximately one-third of IPR-intensive industries are intensive in more than one IPR.

-IPR-intensive industries accounted for 35.9% of formal employment in Uruguay during the 2014-2019 period. On average, IPR-intensive industries employed 352,999 people directly per year.

-During the same period, IPR-intensive industries contributed with 48.9% of GDP, worth UY$ 788,726 million. In terms of international trade flows in goods, these industries represented 44% of exports and 53.8% of imports, generating a trade deficit of about US$ 1,315 million. Trade in services, audio-visual services, personal and cultural services, technical retail, and other business services were the categories with more IPR-intensive industries.

-Wages in all IPR-intensive industries were higher than in other industries, with a wage premium of 34%. Plant-variety rights-intensive industries showed the highest premium, at 200%. This is consistent with the fact that value added per worker is higher in IPR-intensive industries than in other industries.

-A salient feature of IPR filing in Uruguay is that the share of resident applicants is significantly low. Only around 3% of patent applications and 10% of design applications were made by residents in 2014-2019.