Patent thickets, licensing and innovative performance

Arbeitspapier

We examine the relationship between fragmented intellectual property (IP) rights and the innovative performance of firms, taking into consideration the role played by in-licensing of IP. We find that firms facing more fragmented IP landscapes have a higher probability of in-licensing. For firms with small patent portfolios we also find a positive association between fragmentation and licensing costs as a share of sales. We observe a negative relationship between IP fragmentation and innovative performance, but only for firms that engage in in-licensing. In contrast, greater IP fragmentation is associated with higher innovative performance for firms that do not in-license. Furthermore, the effects of fragmentation on innovation also appear to depend on the size of a firm’s patent portfolio. These results suggest that the effects of fragmentation of upstream IP rights are not uniform, and instead vary according to the characteristics of the downstream firm.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ZEW Discussion Papers ; No. 08-101 [rev.]

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital ; Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
• Subject: patent thickets ; licensing ; innovative performance ; Patent ; Innovationswettbewerb ; Lizenzvergabe ; Immaterialgüterrechte ; Innovation ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Cockburn, Iain M. ; MacGarvie, Megan J. ; Müller, Elisabeth
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW)
• (where): Mannheim
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/29635
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET