The UK, Germany and the US have claimed the top scores in a survey of 22 countries and economies on their intellectual property (IP) protection and enforcement records conducted by Taylor Wessing, writes the National Law Journal.

The firm’s inaugural Global Intellectual Property Index (GIPI), released on 2 May, used a statistical analysis to rank jurisdictions in terms of patent, trademarks and copyright protections. Taylor Wessing worked with London research group Z/Yen, which has developed a number of other indices, to develop the index.

The rankings were based on responses to an online questionnaire and a range of factors affecting the IP climate, including the number of specialised intellectual property judges and lawyers relative to the population, the number of patent or trademark filings and the number of patents and trademarks granted and active.

The online survey tallied assessments of 9,333 patent jurisdictions from 341 chief excutives, IP lawyers, in-house counsel and law firm partners.