Azerbaijan took a leading position on the protection of intellectual property in the CIS, the Copyright Agency told Trend on Thursday.

According to the latest rating of "Global competitiveness 2013/2014" of the World Economic Forum, Azerbaijan is in an indisputable leading position in the CIS for the protection of intellectual property. It occupies the 69th place, surpassing Kazakhstan by four steps, Russia by 44 steps and Ukraine by 64 steps.

Generally, Azerbaijan was presented as the most advanced state in the South Caucasus in regards to intellectual property protection in reports of recent years (2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014).

Alongside with these components, Azerbaijan is in 51st place, thus taking the leading position among CIS states for innovation performance, indirectly reflecting the protection of intellectual property.

Protection of intellectual property was named a priority in the "Azerbaijan 2020: vision of the future" development program, ratified by a decree of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in December 2012," the Copyright Agency said.