Commentary by Randy Davidson, founder and CEO of Georgia Insider and Georgia Entertainment
Many people, myself included, are spending more time thinking about intellectual property and the role it will play in Georgia’s next chapter of economic growth.
For decades, intellectual property was often discussed as something you protected: get the lawyers involved. It was often a later-stage thought or concept to be addressed. Register a trademark, file a patent, get a copyright. These remain crucial, but ideas, brands, software, stories, designs, research and proprietary data have become some of the most valuable assets in the modern economy.
Kenya is taking an interesting look at that reality.
The country’s proposed Kenya Intellectual Property Bill, 2026 would consolidate patent, industrial design, copyright and anti-counterfeiting functions that currently sit across separate laws and agencies. At the same time, Kenya has developed a draft National Intellectual Property Policy and Strategy designed to harness IP as a driver of innovation, creativity and economic growth.
I don’t pretend to be an expert on Kenyan government or intellectual property law. What caught my attention is the economic development philosophy behind the effort. Kenya is asking what happens when intellectual property is treated as economic infrastructure. That’s a question Georgia should be asking too.
The Peach State has spent decades building one of America’s strongest environments for attracting investment. The economic development organizations recruit companies. Local universities conduct world-class research. The technology ecosystem launches companies. The tourism organizations build destination brands. State and regional entertainment incentives helped create one of the world’s leading film and television production centers.
Those efforts are incredibly valuable. I wonder what the next evolution looks like if we become equally intentional about the intellectual property being created here.
That means thinking strategically about origination. A film production creates tremendous economic activity while it is here. But the company that originates and owns the story creates an asset that can generate value for decades.
A university research project generates knowledge. But a patent, license or company formed around that research can turn the data into jobs, investment and long-term enterprise value.
A destination creates marketing campaigns. But a distinctive brand, experience or story can become an asset that influences travel decisions for generations.
A technology entrepreneur may have relatively few physical assets while owning software, proprietary data, patents, processes or brands with enormous potential value.
Increasingly, the economic question isn’t simply what we make. It is what we create, what we own and how effectively we commercialize it.
From Protection to Commercialization
One of the most interesting concepts in Kenya’s initiative is the shift from measuring intellectual property by registrations toward measuring the economic activity those rights generate.
The original analysis points to Singapore and South Korea, where intellectual property has been incorporated into broader industrial and innovation strategies. It also raises an issue on financing: in several Asian markets, mechanisms have developed that allow patents, trademarks and copyrights to play a role as collateral for lending.
Think about what that means for an entrepreneur. Our traditional financial system understands a building. It understands equipment, inventory and land. Those assets can be valued, financed and collateralized.
The modern innovation economy often looks completely different. A startup’s greatest asset may be software. A filmmaker may own a story or character. A musician may own a catalog. A university researcher may hold a patent with commercial potential. A tourism organization may spend decades building the value associated with a destination brand.
The challenge is creating systems sophisticated enough to recognize, value and commercialize those assets.
A recent BusinessWorld commentary made a similar argument about the creative economy, pointing out that countries can become very good at protecting intellectual property without building the infrastructure that turns creation into collateral, contracts, brands and exportable equity.
That distinction is important for the future of Georgia.
In part two, I’ll share how these pieces could connect, what an origination economy might look like in Georgia and whether intellectual property should become a larger part of Georgia’s economic development strategy.
Read the Vellum Kenya analysis that sparked this commentary
