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Secrecy and Patents: Theory and Evidence from the Uniform Trade Secrets Act

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  • I. P. L. Png

    (NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119245)

Abstract

How should firms use patents and secrecy as appropriability mechanisms? Consider technologies that differ in the likelihood of being invented around or reverse engineered. Here, I develop the profit-maximizing strategy: (i) on the internal margin, the marginal patent balances appropriability relative to cost of patents vis-a-vis secrecy, and (ii) on the external margin, commercialize products that yield non-negative profit. To test the theory, I exploit staggered enactment of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA), using other uniform laws as instruments. The Act was associated with 38.6% fewer patents after one year, and smaller effects in later years. The Act was associated with larger effect on companies that earned higher margins, spent more on R&D, and faced weaker enforcement of covenants not to compete. The empirical findings are consistent with businesses actively choosing between patent and secrecy as appropriability mechanisms, and appropriability affecting the number of products commercialized.

Suggested Citation

  • I. P. L. Png, 2017. "Secrecy and Patents: Theory and Evidence from the Uniform Trade Secrets Act," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(3), pages 176-193, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orstsc:v:2:y:2017:i:3:p:176-193
    DOI: 10.1287/stsc.2017.0035
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    Cited by:

    1. Telg, Nina & Lokshin, Boris & Letterie, Wilko, 2023. "How formal and informal intellectual property protection matters for firms' decision to engage in coopetition: The role of environmental dynamism and competition intensity," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    2. Raffiee, Joseph & Teodoridis, Florenta & Fehder, Daniel, 2023. "Partisan patent examiners? Exploring the link between the political ideology of patent examiners and patent office outcomes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    3. Bradley, Wendy A. & Kolev, Julian, 2023. "How does digital piracy affect innovation? Evidence from software firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(3).
    4. Klein, Michael A., 2022. "The reward and contract theories of patents in a model of endogenous growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    5. Lartey, Theophilus & Danso, Albert & Owusu-Agyei, Samuel, 2020. "CEOs' market sentiment and corporate innovation: The role of financial uncertainty, competition and capital intensity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Lee, Jangwook & Chung, Jiyoon, 2022. "Women in top management teams and their impact on innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    7. Ulya Tsolmon & Dan Ariely, 2022. "Health insurance benefits as a labor market friction: Evidence from a quasi‐experiment," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 1556-1574, August.
    8. Katrin Hussinger & Wunnam Basit Issah, 2022. "Trade Secret Protection and R&D Investment of Family Firms," DEM Discussion Paper Series 22-11, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    9. Klein, Michael A., 2020. "Secrecy, the patent puzzle and endogenous growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    10. Dan Hu & Eunju Lee & Bingxin Li, 2023. "Trade secrets protection and stock price crash risk," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 58(2), pages 395-421, May.
    11. Kannan Srikanth & Anand Nandkumar & Deepa Mani & Prashant Kale, 2020. "How Firms Build Isolating Mechanisms for Knowledge: A Study in Offshore Research and Development Captives," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(2), pages 98-116, June.
    12. Katrin Hussinger & Wunnam Issah, 2023. "Early Patent Disclosure and R&D Investment in Family Firms," DEM Discussion Paper Series 23-17, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    13. Yun Hou & I.P.L. Png & Xi Xiong, 2023. "When stronger patent law reduces patenting: Empirical evidence," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 977-1012, April.
    14. Huang, Kenneth Guang-Lih & Huang, Can & Shen, Huijun & Mao, Hao, 2021. "Assessing the value of China's patented inventions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    15. Ganglmair, Bernhard & Robinson, W. Keith & Seeligson, Michael, 2022. "The rise of process claims: Evidence from a century of U.S. patents," ZEW Discussion Papers 22-011, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Yasusada Murata & Ryo Nakajima, 2023. "Marshall meets Bartik: Revisiting the mysteries of the trade," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2023-015, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    17. Miric, Milan & Boudreau, Kevin J. & Jeppesen, Lars Bo, 2019. "Protecting their digital assets: The use of formal & informal appropriability strategies by App developers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(8), pages 1-1.
    18. Hussingera, Katrin & Issahd, Wunnam, 2022. "Trade secret protection and R&D investment of family firms," ZEW Discussion Papers 22-039, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    19. Tseng, Kevin, 2022. "Learning from the Joneses: Technology spillover, innovation externality, and stock returns," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2).
    20. Daniel P. Gross, 2023. "The Hidden Costs of Securing Innovation: The Manifold Impacts of Compulsory Invention Secrecy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(4), pages 2318-2338, April.
    21. Hyo Kang & Wyatt Lee, 2022. "How innovating firms manage knowledge leakage: A natural experiment on the threat of worker departure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(10), pages 1961-1982, October.
    22. Hermans, Ben & Leus, Roel & Looy, Bart Van, 2023. "Deciding on scheduling, secrecy, and patenting during the new product development process: The relevance of project planning models," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    23. Yan Li & Yutao Li, 2020. "The effect of trade secrets protection on disclosure of forward‐looking financial information," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3-4), pages 397-437, March.
    24. Wang, Yanzhi, 2023. "Trade secrets laws and technology spillovers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(7).
    25. Wang, Runhua, 2021. "Information asymmetry and the inefficiency of informal ip strategies within employment relationships," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).

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    Keywords

    patents; trade secrets; law;
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