An empirical investigation of patent and trademark ownership propensity and intensity in the U.S. food and drink industry

We use patent and trademark ownership data to study product, process, and marketing innovation by 157 manufacturers in the U.S. public food and drink industry. For the 2000-2014 period, most patented innovations relate to processes for manufacturing and designs for marketing, whereas patented innovations in food and drink products or compositions are relatively few. Meanwhile, intellectual property in general is more often protected by trademark ownership. Empirically, we specify a panel logistic model and a panel negative binomial model to study the relationship of firm characteristics to the propensity and intensity of patent and trademark ownership, respectively. In each model, firm size exhibits a significant and positive relationship to the propensity and intensity of patented innovations in products, processes, and marketing. Past innovation, past income, and firm age also have a positive relationship to patent and trademark ownership in most models, whereas leverage is only estimated to negatively relate to the propensity and intensity of trademark ownership. We use our main findings and conclusions to inform research, management, and policy implications.