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Journal ArticleDOI

Intellectual property rights business management practices: A survey of the literature

01 Aug 2006-Technovation (Elsevier)-Vol. 26, Iss: 8, pp 895-931
TL;DR: In this paper, a survey of the empirical literature regarding the use and management of Intellectual Property rights (IPRs) is presented, focusing on the US, Canada, EU, Japan and Australia and the protection of IP in specific industry groups.
Abstract: The survey focuses on the empirical literature regarding the use and management of intellectual property rights (IPRs). It overviews policy changes regarding intellectual property (IP) protection in the US that led, according to some commentators, to patent friendly era in the US. Then it looks at the IPRs use and strategies in the US, Canada, EU, Japan and Australia and at the protection of IP in specific industry groups. Also reviewed is the relationship between the use of IPRs and the size of firm and its ownership (national vs. multinational). Numerous articles show that management of knowledge assets in general and IPRs in particular are increasingly important. The value of firms in knowledge intensive activities is determined by the value of its IP. IP is used as a financial asset. Firms allocate more human resources to management of IPRs and their training, but there remain important international differences. The recent literature on the impact of IP on the value of the firm, its assessment, valuation, accounting and management of IP are reviewed. The last section of the paper deals with enforcement of IPRs, infringement and dispute resolution. A special attention is given to internet and computer infringement of IP and to insurance as a protection for legal costs.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Text mining is used to transform patent documents into structured data to identify keyword vectors and principal component analysis is employed to reduce the numbers of keyword vectors to make suitable for use on a two-dimensional map.
Abstract: This paper proposes an approach for creating and utilizing keyword-based patent maps for use in new technology creation activity. The proposed approach comprises the following sub-modules. First, text mining is used to transform patent documents into structured data to identify keyword vectors. Second, principal component analysis is employed to reduce the numbers of keyword vectors to make suitable for use on a two-dimensional map. Third, patent ‘vacancies’, defined as blank areas in the map that are sparse in patent density but large in size, are identified. The validity of the vacancy is then tested against such criteria as technological criticality and technological trends. If a vacancy is judged as meaningful, its technological features are investigated in detail to identify the potential for new technology creation. The procedure of the proposed approach is described in detail by employing an illustrative patent database and is implemented into an expert system for new technology creation.

386 citations


Cites background from "Intellectual property rights busine..."

  • ...However, as the value of firms, particularly in the knowledge-intensive business service sector, is determined by the value of their intellectual property that can be represented and protected by patents (Hanel, 2006), more firms are trying to protect their service innovations (Bader, 2008)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results showed that topological measures are beneficial in detecting branching innovation in the citation network of scientific publications.
Abstract: In this paper, we performed a comparative study in two research domains in order to develop a method of detecting emerging knowledge domains. The selected domains are research on gallium nitride (GaN) and research on complex networks, which represent recent examples of innovative research. We divided citation networks into clusters using the topological clustering method, tracked the positions of papers in each cluster, and visualized citation networks with characteristic terms for each cluster. Analyzing the clustering results with the average age and parent–children relationship of each cluster may be helpful in detecting emergence. In addition, topological measures, within-cluster degree z and participation coefficient P , succeeded in determining whether there are emerging knowledge clusters. There were at least two types of development of knowledge domains. One is incremental innovation as in GaN and the other is branching innovation as in complex networks. In the domains where incremental innovation occurs, papers changed their position to large z and large P . On the other hand, in the case of branching innovation, they moved to a position with large z and small P , because there is a new emerging cluster, and active research centers shift rapidly. Our results showed that topological measures are beneficial in detecting branching innovation in the citation network of scientific publications.

293 citations


Cites background from "Intellectual property rights busine..."

  • ...The intellectual property rights are becoming significant for the management of firms (Hanel, 2006; Storto, 2006; Bader, 2008)....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate how knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) protect their inventions from imitation by rival firms when choosing among various protection mechanisms, including patents, registration of design patterns, trademarks, secrecy and lead-time advantages over competitors.
Abstract: How do knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) protect their inventions from imitation by rival firms when choosing among various protection mechanisms? Data from the 2003 Statistics Canada Innovation Survey on services are used to investigate this issue by looking into complementarities, substitution and independence among eight protection mechanisms. A Multivariate Probit (MVP) model is estimated to take into account the fact that KIBS simultaneously consider many alternative intellectual property (IP) protection methods when they attempt to protect their innovations. Results show that patents, registration of design patterns, trademarks, secrecy and lead-time advantages over competitors constitute legal and informal methods that are used jointly. These complementarities suggest that IP protection mechanisms that are interdependent and reinforce each other to protect innovations from imitation by rival firms constitute a pattern on which firms rely to protect their innovations from imitation. A second pattern is based on the fact that KIBS rely on patents and complexity of designs as substitutes, and tend to use registration of design patterns and complexity of designs as substitutes in protecting their innovations from imitation. A third emerging pattern concerns protection mechanisms that are independent from each other and exhibit no synergy, and do not reinforce each other to protect innovations from imitation by other firms.

222 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the pattern of international collaboration across countries in inventive activities using the information about inventors and assignees as defined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Abstract: Patent application encompasses valuable information about inventive activities. This study examines the pattern of international collaboration across countries in inventive activities using the information about inventors and assignees as defined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This study first develops a series of indices and then uses the patent information from the USPTO databases on the fields of inventors and assignees to evaluate these indices, with the data from the eight most inventive OECD countries and two Asian economic entities (South Korea and Taiwan) for a span of 1980–2005. The results reveal a pattern of increasing collaboration in inventive activities across the world over the past two decades, which may suggest that the world has begun to embrace the inceptive stage of “Techno-globalism.”

133 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose a specific model of analysis, which includes various hypotheses to be tested in a sample of 258 Spanish manufacturing companies, and confirm that companies that mostly use explicit knowledge chose the patenting system as a defence mechanism, while those companies in which tacit type knowledge predominates tend to opt for industrial secret.
Abstract: This study is intended to analyse several mechanisms available to companies in order to appropriate the results of their innovative activities. These mechanisms include patents, industrial secret, cost and time of imitation and continuous innovation. Specifically, this paper focuses on studying the factors that determine the choice of one appropriation method over another. To this end, we propose a specific model of analysis, which includes various hypotheses to be tested in a sample of 258 Spanish manufacturing companies. The results confirm that companies that mostly use explicit knowledge chose the patenting system as a defence mechanism, while those companies in which tacit type knowledge predominates tend to opt for industrial secret. We could also prove that larger companies tend to choose the patenting system as a protection mechanism. Finally, the hypothesis that companies that use high-commitment human resources practices use continuous innovation or technological leadership as a protection mechanism could also be tested.

117 citations


Cites background or result from "Intellectual property rights busine..."

  • ...used by Spanish manufacturing companies, confirming the results obtained in the research of Harabi (1995) and Brouwer and Kleinknecht (1999)....

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  • ...of appropriating economic benefits from appropriation (Hanel, 2006)....

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  • ...In this sense, patents are increasingly perceived in many industrial sectors as being a rather ineffectual means of appropriating economic benefits from appropriation (Hanel, 2006)....

    [...]

References
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ReportDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a survey on the use of patent data in economic analysis, focusing on the patent data as an indicator of technological change and concluding that patent data remain a unique resource for the study of technical change.
Abstract: This survey reviews the growing use of patent data in economic analysis. After describing some of the main characteristics of patents and patent data, it focuses on the use of patents as an indicator of technological change. Cross-sectional and time-series studies of the relationship of patents to R&D expenditures are reviewed, as well as scattered estimates of the distribution of patent values and the value of patent rights, the latter being based on recent analyses of European patent renewal data. Time-series trends of patents granted in the U.S. are examined and their decline in the 1970s is found to be an artifact of the budget stringencies at the Patent Office. The longer run downward trend in patents per R&D dollar is interpreted not as an indication of diminishing returns but rather as a reflection of the changing meaning of such data over time. The conclusion is reached that, in spite of many difficulties and reservations, patent data remain a unique resource for the study of technical change.

5,075 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a survey on the use of patent data in economic analysis, focusing on the patent data as an indicator of technological change and concluding that patent data remain a unique resource for the study of technical change.
Abstract: This survey reviews the growing use of patent data in economic analysis. After describing some of the main characteristics of patents and patent data, it focuses on the use of patents as an indicator of technological change. Cross-sectional and time-series studies of the relationship of patents to R&D expenditures are reviewed, as well as scattered estimates of the distribution of patent values and the value of patent rights, the latter being based on recent analyses of European patent renewal data. Time-series trends of patents granted in the U.S. are examined and their decline in the 1970s is found to be an artifact of the budget stringencies at the Patent Office. The longer run downward trend in patents per R&D dollar is interpreted not as an indication of diminishing returns but rather as a reflection of the changing meaning of such data over time. The conclusion is reached that, in spite of many difficulties and reservations, patent data remain a unique resource for the study of technical change.

4,845 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 1987
TL;DR: A patent confers, in theory, perfect appropriability (monopoly of the invention) for a limited time in return for a public benefit as mentioned in this paper, however, the benefits consumers derive from an innovation, however, are increased if competitors can imitate and improve on the innovation to ensure its availability on favorable terms.
Abstract: To HAVE the incentive to undertake research and development, a firm must be able to appropriate returns sufficient to make the investment worthwhile. The benefits consumers derive from an innovation, however, are increased if competitors can imitate and improve on the innovation to ensure its availability on favorable terms. Patent law seeks to resolve this tension between incentives for innovation and widespread diffusion of benefits. A patent confers, in theory, perfect appropriability (monopoly of the invention) for a limited time in return for a public

3,653 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors put forward patent counts weighted by citations as indicators of the value of innovations, thereby overcoming the limitations of simple counts, and found that simple patent counts are highly correlated with contemporaneous RD, however, the association is within afield over time rather than cross-sectional.
Abstract: The use ofpatents in economic research has been seriously hindered by the fact that patents vary enormously in their importance or value, and hence, simple patent counts cannot be informative about innovative output. The purpose of this article is to put forward patent counts weighted by citations as indicators of the value of innovations, thereby overcoming the limitations of simple counts. The empirical analysis of a particular innovation (Computed Tomography scanners) indeed shows a close association between citation-based patent indices and independent measures of the social value of innovations in that field. Moreover, the weighting scheme appears to be nonlinear (increasing) in the number of citations, implying that the informational content of citations rises at the margin. As in previous studies, simple patent counts are found to be highly correlated with contemporaneous RD however, here the association is within afield over time rather than cross-sectional.

2,765 citations