The United States set a record for exports of intellectual property royalties in 2025, totaling 191,413 million dollars.
Globally, the United States leads in service exports, with 1 billón 235,000 millones de dólares.
In the 2026 World Competitiveness Ranking, compiled by the Swiss-based Institute for Management Development (IMD), the United States ranked 12th in intellectual property rights.
Exports of intellectual property royalties
International trade is divided into sales of goods and services. The United States ranks second (behind China) in product sales and first in service sales.
This indicator of fees for the use of intellectual property excludes certain services such as commercial software licenses and distribution rights for films, music, or television, among others.
The indicator includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, and franchises. In addition, it includes licensing fees for the reproduction and/or distribution of intellectual property incorporated into original products (such as copyrights on books and manuscripts, computer software, motion pictures, and sound recordings) and related rights (such as those pertaining to live performances and television, cable, or satellite broadcasts).
The following table shows exports of intellectual property royalties from the United States, in millions of dollars, according to data from the Department of Commerce:
- 2020: 115,936.
- 2021: 128,352.
- 2022: 127,392.
- 2023: 148,204.
- 2024: 169,520.
- 2025: 191,413.
Innovative Products
U.S. leadership in commercial services demonstrates that today’s real business lies in the knowledge economy. The boom in the sale of patents and trademarks opens up a clear strategic opportunity: partnering with U.S. firms allows for the direct transfer of advanced technology to local production lines.
On the other hand, the slight lag in U.S. competitiveness highlighted by the IMD reveals the existence of underutilized intangible assets. The development of U.S. strategies to acquire franchises and reproduction licenses facilitates the capture of greater value. This will make it possible to successfully supply emerging markets that demand innovative products.