Purpose

Design/methodology/approach

Findings

Practical implications

Originality/value 

This paper illustrates the development of intellectual property (IP) as a management discipline over time. It starts by providing a brief historical overview of the role of IP in research and managerial practice. Changes that have caused the emergence of IP as a new discipline in management research and education are outlined subsequently.

After that, the paper introduces a new framework to strategically manage IP within the broader context of technology management. The framework highlights the new and upcoming strategic roles and tasks of the “IP function” within firms.

The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for the proficient management of IP in firms today and in the future, which stands in sharp contrast with how IP was valued and handled in many firms in the past.

This paper examines the relationship between patent management and indicators of a firm’s financial and patenting performance. The empirical analyses are based on a sample of 158 technology-based firms from the USA and Germany across multiple industries.

The results show that two important dimensions of patent management, specifically patent protection management and patent information management, are positively correlated with a firm’s level of financial profitability and the strategic and financial impact of its patent portfolio. This implies that patent protection and information management are important managerial capabilities of the firm that determine the level of value it can create from patents.

We further find that a firm’s technology strategy moderates the relationship between patent protection management and firm performance; it does, however, not moderate the relationship between patent information management and firm performance. Hence, the effectiveness of certain managerial capabilities on value creation from patents are contingent upon specific boundary conditions. Our findings have implications for improving firm performance by means of patent management.

This article examines the impact of cross-functional integration between the R&D and the patent functions on new product development (NPD) performance. The attitudinal (collaboration) and the behavioral (contributions of the patent function to NPD) dimension of cross-functional integration between the R&D and the patent functions are distinguished.

It is also investigated if the level of innovativeness moderates the relationship between the attitudinal and the behavioral dimension of cross-functional integration between the R&D and the patent department and NPD performance.
The four hypotheses are tested based on a multi-informant sample of 101 NPD projects which are nested within 72 technology-based firms or strategic business units from multiple industries in Germany.

The results show that the attitudinal and the behavioral dimensions of cross-functional integration between the R&D and the patent functions have a significant and positive impact on NPD performance. This lends empirical support for the notion expressed in the literature that certain managerial capabilities are important for understanding the effect of patenting on appropriability outcomes such as value creation and performance. The level of cross-functional integration between the patent and the R&D functions appears to be one of these critical patent management capabilities that affect the returns from investments into patents.

There is support for the hypothesis that the context matters for the effect of cross-functional integration between the R&D and the patent functions on NPD performance. In line with the initial hypothesis, the level of innovativeness positively moderates the impact of the behavioral dimension of cross-functional integration between the R&D and the patent department on NPD performance. In contrast to the initial hypothesis, the findings reveal no moderating effect of the level of innovativeness on the link between the attitudinal dimension of cross-functional integration between the R&D and the patent department and NPD performance. This implies that joint objectives and an open and trustful working relationship between the R&D and the patent functions are not sufficient for achieving higher NPD performance if firms aim to develop very innovative products.

In case of highly innovative products, the actual behavior, i.e. the specific contributions of the patent department to the NPD project, matters.
Overall, these findings have important implications for improving performance by means of effectively integrating the patent and the R&D functions during NPD.

Gewerbliche Schutzrechte wie insbesondere Patente und Marken erfahren heutzutage eine wie zuvor noch nie dagewesene Aufmerksamkeit. Unternehmen in innovationsintensiven Industrien erkennen zunehmend die strategische Bedeutung von gewerblichen Schutzrechten, um Wettbewerbsvorteile zu erlangen und zu sichern sowie um zusätzliche Vermarktungsoptionen zu schaffen und zu realisieren.

Die funktionale Verantwortung für das Management gewerblicher Schutzrechte liegt bei Patent- oder IP- (Intellectual Property) Abteilungen. Es fällt auf, dass sich die betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung vereinzelt mit dem Management gewerblicher Schutzrechte beschäftigt, dabei die Rolle der Patentabteilung als betriebswirtschaftliche Funktion aber kaum systematisch beleuchtet wird.

In diesem Beitrag soll daher die Rolle der Patentabteilung unter betriebswirtschaftlichen Gesichtspunkten analysiert werden. Um eine Eingrenzung und einen inhaltlichen Fokus zu erreichen, beschränke ich mich hier auf das Technologiemanagement als relevanten, konzeptionellen Rahmen.

Es wird zunächst aufgezeigt, wie die Patentabteilung das Technologiemanagement konkret und aktiv gestalten kann. Dabei erfolgt zunächst eine Bestandsaufnahme, in dem die möglichen Beiträge der Patentabteilung für das Technologiemanagement aufgezeigt und strukturiert werden. Anschließend wird ein Ausblick auf zukünftige Forschungsthemen im Kontext der Patentabteilung und des Technologiemanagements gegeben.

This article introduces a framework that helps to assimilate intellectual property management activities with the practices of marketing and strategy.

With the framework, the management of IP rights is explained within marketing constructs such as the unique selling proposition. The article presents case studies that explore the applicability of the framework in a diversity of industry contexts and firm sizes.

Patent metrics are increasingly used to assess the competitive position of technology-oriented firms. Patent rankings and patent scoreboards are popular methods to benchmark patent portfolios of firms against each other.

Existing rankings, however, have methodological limitations that significantly reduce the meaningfulness of these benchmarks for managers, investors and other stakeholders. In this paper, we develop a new benchmarking methodology that overcomes limitations of existing approaches and offers a more accurate assessment of a firm’s patent portfolio vis-à-vis its competitors.

Firms are ranked according to the Patent Asset Index, which is derived from a set of newly developed patent indicators. These indicators are empirically validated and reflect more accurately the value of patents. We apply the new benchmarking method in the global chemical industry and contrast our findings with those of other existing patent portfolio rankings.

Computer aided patent portfolio analysis is a useful tool to evaluate both, the R&D landscape and business opportunities. All necessary patent data can be generated from publicly accessible data bases. Patent data allow conclusions about a firm’s patent activity and the quality of its patent portfolio.

Further, the international and technological scope of a company’s patent strategy can be assessed. This information is particularly interesting for the evaluation of a firm’s innovative potential. Besides, it allows to draw conclusions on the innovative dynamics of the considered market segment, in this case dietary supplements.

The results are shown in graphs and spider charts. In sum, we can make conclusions about the relative innovative power and patent strength of a company within the selected market segment. We draw conclusions on the importance of patents as a method of knowledge protection in this market and gather insights about the availability of companies that are potentially suitable for co-operations or acquisitions.

The information in patent data can be used for strategic planning purposes. A conceptual framework is developed showing the use of patent information in core areas of technology management.

This paper addresses how patent information can be used for competitor monitoring, technology assessment, R&D portfolio management, the identification and assessment of potential sources for the external generation of technological knowledge, especially by means of mergers and acquisitions, and human resource management. Indicators of patenting strategies and various portfolio concepts that can be used for these purposes are described.

Because of its strategic value, it is argued that the retrieval and evaluation of patent data should be institutionalized within the organization in order to ensure the continuous and systematic use of patent information in a company’s decision-making processes. How patent information becomes a core element of a firm’s knowledge management system is outlined.

This type of strategic patent information is geared toward two important recipients:

Marketing and R&D strategies need to be aligned to increase the return from investment in new technologies. Various portfolio techniques have been widely used to support strategic planning.

In order to balance Marketing and R&D in the strategic planning process, it is necessary to integrate different portfolio concepts.  A new portfolio approach integrating market and technology portfolio to support market-oriented R&D planning is developed.

The integrated portfolio is based on objective market and patent data and empirical evidence that the respective portfolio dimensions impact a company's business performance. This contributes significantly to the relevance of the proposed integrated portfolio approach for strategic planning. The integrated portfolio is tested in a practical application in the chemical industry.

Based on these experiences a set of recommendations for the effective use of the integrated portfolio for market-orientated strategic R&D planning are derived.

This article examines the relationship between patent applications and subsequent changes of company performance. Time-series cross-section data from 50 German machine tool manufacturers between 1984 and 1992 are used to perform panel analyses.

It is shown that national patent applications lead to sales increases with a time-lag of 2 to 3 years after the priority year. European patent applications, which are of higher quality than national patent applications, have an even higher impact on sales increases with a lag of 3 years after the priority year.

These results lend support to the use of patent data as an output indicator of R&D activities for business applications as well as empirical research.

The behavior of key inventors after the acquisition of their company is examined. Key inventors are identified on the basis of their patenting output. They account for a large number of their company’s high-quality patents.

The analysis of 43 acquisitions shows that key inventors leave to a substantial extent their company or significantly reduce their patenting performance after the acquisition. Factors influencing the behavior of key inventors after acquisitions are identified.

Implications for the effective management of acquisitions as well as suggestions for further research are outlined.

From theoretical work, as well as from empirical findings on the distribution of scientific performance, we can deduce that there are also great variations in the output of industrial research and development personnel.

By analyzing the patenting output from research and development personnel, we are able to· measure their technological performance. The inventor portfolio provides a method to measure and identify key inventors. Key inventors are characterized by a large number of patent applications that are of high quality.

This paper presents the results from an empirical study that analyzes the distribution of the patenting output of inventors working in the chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineering industry in 43 German companies.

The findings of this study suggest that the technological performance of inventors defined by the number and quality of filed patents is highly concentrated. In particular, a very small group of key inventors is responsible for the major part of the company's technological performance, and thus for the company's competitiveness.

These findings, in turn, have major practical implications for human resource management in industrial R&D departments.

Because of the rapidly growing number of elderly people, products for the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders (pacemakers) are a major part of the US $130 billion medical device market.

Since 1994 two US companies, Medtronic Inc. and St. Jude Medical Inc., have dominated the pacemaker segment. Very interestingly, the two competitors show substantially different developments in their financial performance.

This case study offers some answers to the question, what may have caused these developments? A review of the most recent history of the two companies, and a third player which is of particular interest, Siemens AG, shows that these companies have followed different strategies to achieve success in the pacemaker market. Since technological progress has been of prime importance in the pacemaker industry, patent analyses were conducted.

It is shown that a strong patent-portfolio can be an important strategic weapon in the pacemaker industry.

It has been recently observed that in the light of concepts like lean management, shortening of development times, business reengineering or shareholder value, companies have substantially cut down their expenditures for research.

Since research is by definition primarily aimed at the broadening of technological knowledge rather than the development of products or processes which find immediate commercial applications, the benefits of research are not apparent and hence, the allocation of funds to research appears to be unjustified.

Based on data from 25 European and Japanese electronics companies, we examined the relationship between corporate spending on research and patenting output. Since patent applications only measure the overall level of R&D activity, they were differentiated according to their quality in order to assess the technological and commercial impact of R&D activities.

It is found that those companies, which spend a high share of their R&D expenditures on research, hold patents of relatively higher quality. Furthermore, differences between European and Japanese companies with respect to research spending and patent positions are identified.

The results lead to the conclusion that research obviously serves as a base for those inventions, which are of higher technological and commercial importance. Thus, the investment in research appears to be of great value for the competitiveness and should therefore not be neglected.

In the 1980s, a dramatic change in the competitive structure of the machine tool industry through the development and implementation of CNC-technology occurred. For the individual company, the timely anticipation and forecast of these technological challenges have been of vital importance in order to incorporate these technological changes into its strategic planning process.

This paper assesses the suitability of patent data for forecasting technological developments, based on the experience in the case of CNC-technology. Following a general description of the technological life cycle concept and the discussion of possible benefits of patent data as a technological forecasting tool, actual patenting activity in CNC-technology is analyzed.

It is found that the diffusion of CNC-technology can be appropriately described by means of patent data. Different development stages in the life cycle of CNC-technology can be distinguished, where for each stage strategic R&D investment decisions can be derived.

Analyzing the impact of CNC-technology on the trade pattern between Japan and Germany clearly reveals that patenting activity causes subsequent and immediate market changes. The strong Japanese patent position in CNC-technology is closely associated with favorable trade changes.

Consequently, it is recommended to incorporate the systematic and continuous monitoring of patenting activity into a company's overall competitor monitoring intelligence. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, patent data analysis provides a technological forecasting instrument with high potential benefits and relatively low cost.

This paper systematically evaluates the patenting behavior of a sample of 50 business firms within the German mechanical engineering industry. Based on a framework of multiple patenting indicators, four different types of parenting strategies are identified.

Furthermore, the relationship between these patenting strategies and company performance is analyzed. It is shown that patent-active companies perform best for the economic performance variables used.

Finally, the importance of different patenting indicators is assessed. It is found that the number of international patent applications, the rate of valid patents and highly cited patents are positively related to economic performance.

Thus, the differentiated use of patent data is advisable.

In May 2016, three scientists from Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology were preparing for a meeting with several managers from the institute's technology transfer department. The three scientists were planning to commercialize a new technology they had created and hoped to use their invention to launch a new company as a spinoff from their work at the institute. However, because the scientists had created the technology while working at the institute, the technology was legally owned by the institute. The focus of their meeting with the institute's management was to:

(1) plan for the protection of their invention by registering relevant patents and

(2) discuss the terms for a suitable agreement between both parties.

The scientists wanted to clarify how they might be able to use the technology to launch their spinoff company. Specifically, they were eager to determine their rights to the patents that would be registered for their intellectual property. They hoped the meeting would clarify any conflicts between the interests of the scientists and those of the university and would determine the party responsible for costs related to protecting the intellectual property.