Updated
May 30, 2025
Published
May 30, 2025
What happened: In April, the Chamber released the 2025 International IP Index which provides a comprehensive assessment of the global intellectual property (IP) landscape. Trademark protection is a key components of an effective IP ecosystem because trademarks both help businesses protect their brand identity and ensure consumers can trust the authenticity and safety of the products they purchase. The 2025 Index provides a snapshot of key trends in trademark protection and enforcement worldwide.
The highlights: Most economies sampled in the Index offer basic forms of trademark protection, with only nine of the 55 economies falling below a score of 50% or less on the trademark indicators.
Positive progress: Economies worldwide also took steps to strengthen trademark protection and enforcement over the last year.
- In Asia, the Philippines introduced new legislation that defines primary and secondary liability for failing to act upon notification of IP infringement.
- Meanwhile in France, French Customs launched the National Anti-Counterfeiting Plan 2024–2026 that emphasizes fighting counterfeits sold and marketed online.
- And in the Middle East, the UAE introduced a dedicated anti-counterfeiting law that empowers judicial enforcement officers to take ex officio action against suspected counterfeit goods, while Saudi Arabia created a dedicated prosecution office for IP offenses to strengthen criminal enforcement of IP rights.
Why it matters: Trademarks are critical to safeguarding the value of brands and ensuring consumer safety. Economies are increasingly recognizing the value of trademark protection, with trademark registration growing significantly in regions with the most underdeveloped IP systems. For example, in Africa, trademark applications increased 450% between 1994 and 2023, illustrating an increasing recognition of the importance of brand protection worldwide.
Bottom Line: While this positive momentum is encouraging, it is critical that governments continue to take steps to strengthen trademark protection and enforcement to better protect rightsholders and prevent the proliferation of counterfeit goods worldwide. The Index provides a roadmap to help achieve this goal.
About the author
Kelly Anderson
Kelly Anderson serves as vice president of international policy at the U.S. Chamber’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC). Anderson oversees the GIPC’s global advocacy efforts and leads the GIPC’s policy engagement in the multilateral organizations and developed economies.
