> this was an unforeseen advantage of good US IP law that other countries are trying to replicate
More common, from what I've seen, is smaller countries reluctant to adopt liberal US-style IP law and being pressured to do so by the US State Department as a condition in trade negotiations and foreign aid. The US delegation was the principal pusher of IP reform in the TPP, and this evaporated when the US left.
The benefits of strong IP law are not apparent at first. It happened in the US through trial and error during both world wars and then up through the decades, e.g. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayh–Dole_Act
I only know this due to some policy courses I took during IAP when I was at MIT.
More common, from what I've seen, is smaller countries reluctant to adopt liberal US-style IP law and being pressured to do so by the US State Department as a condition in trade negotiations and foreign aid. The US delegation was the principal pusher of IP reform in the TPP, and this evaporated when the US left.