Abstract:    The effective use of regional trade agreement (RTA) intellectual property rules to increase the flow of innovative technologies is an important way for countries to enhance domestic productivity. Based on the 269 RTAs in the WTO and the World Bank′s In-depth Trade Database from 2000 to 2017, this paper explored the impact of RTA′s intellectual property protection on cross-border technology spillovers and its mechanism on the basis of measuring the coverage and enforcement rate of intellectual property provisions and differentiating TRIPs-plus provisions. The study found that RTA intellectual property protection effectively promotes crossborder technology spillovers, and the results are robust. The heterogeneity analysis showed that the promotion effect is more significant between north and south partner countries; the mechanism analysis showed that the RTA intellectual property protection can expand technology spillovers by promoting innovation and strengthening domestic IP rules; and further analysis showed that the inclusion of IP provisions in RTAs can have a positive impact on technology spillovers between contracting parties and third countries. This paper has not only enriched the research on the dynamic effects of intellectual property protection in regional economic integration, but also expanded a new path for countries to attract the inflow of technological factors, promote domestic innovation and improve intellectual property protection policies.

Key words: intellectual property protection, regional trade agreement, cross-border technology spillover, innovation