Dealing with Intellectual Property (IP) Landmines: Defensive Measures to Address the Problem of IP Access

Research Policy, July 2019

50 Pages Posted: 8 Aug 2019

See all articles by Jiyoon Chung

Jiyoon Chung

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

Annika Lorenz

Utrecht University - Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development

Deepak Somaya

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Business Administration

Date Written: July 10, 2019

Abstract

Intellectual property (IP) rights have become an important strategic battleground, in which IP owners increasingly build barriers that impede firms from operating in the marketplace. Although research has examined property preemption as one approach to defend against being blocked by others’ IP, a broader palette of defensive IP measures to address problems of missing access to external IP has received less scrutiny. In quantitative analyses of a representative survey of German firms, we find that key firm-level attributes — firm scope, innovation expenses, product innovation, collaboration breadth, and use of patents — are associated with a need to use such defensive IP measures. We also examine the firm-level attributes associated with a firm’s choice among eight possible types of strategies for IP defense, and how certain types of defensive IP measures are systematically interrelated in use. Qualitative interviews with seventeen intellectual property practitioners complement, and help to interpret, our quantitative findings. Implications for future research, and for managers and policymakers are discussed.

Keywords: intellectual property, strategy, IP access problem; defensive measures, freedom to innovate

JEL Classification: O31, O34

Suggested Citation

Chung, Jiyoon and Lorenz, Annika and Somaya, Deepak, Dealing with Intellectual Property (IP) Landmines: Defensive Measures to Address the Problem of IP Access (July 10, 2019). Research Policy, July 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3432040 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3432040

Jiyoon Chung

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen ( email )

Annika Lorenz

Utrecht University - Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development ( email )

Heidelberglann 2
3508 TC Utrecht
Netherlands

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.uu.nl/staff/ALorenz

Deepak Somaya (Contact Author)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Department of Business Administration ( email )

1206 South Sixth Street
Champaign, IL 61820
United States

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