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Why do innovators not apply for trademarks? The role of information asymmetries and collaborative innovation

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  • Suma Athreye
  • Claudio Fassio

Abstract

This paper analyses the underlying reasons why innovators do not apply for trademarks for all of their valuable inventions. Using a unique database of UK innovations linked to innovative firms, the empirical analysis highlights the many ways that firms can alleviate information asymmetries and the constraints imposed by collaborative innovation without taking recourse to trademarks. When information asymmetries are not at stake, i.e. when firms use an already existing trademark for their innovations or when they use intermediaries for its distribution, trademarks no longer serve their purpose, leading firms to avoid using it for their innovations. Open innovation also decreases the incentive to trademark, especially when the innovative process involves users, mainly because of property rights issues or because the innovator prefers to use the clients’ own distribution channels.

Suggested Citation

  • Suma Athreye & Claudio Fassio, 2020. "Why do innovators not apply for trademarks? The role of information asymmetries and collaborative innovation," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1-2), pages 134-154, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:indinn:v:27:y:2020:i:1-2:p:134-154
    DOI: 10.1080/13662716.2019.1616533
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    Cited by:

    1. Hamid Etemad, 2025. "Augmented CRMs as a potent strategy for overcoming challenges of digital global connectivity, global multi-sided platforms, and the emerging restrictive trade and commerce," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Ghisetti, Claudia & Montresor, Sandro & Vezzani, Antonio, 2021. "Design and environmental technologies: Does ‘green-matching’ actually help?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(5).
    3. Zhiwen Li & Oswin Aganda Anaba & Zhiqiang Ma & Mingxing Li, 2021. "Ghanaian SMEs Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evaluating the Influence of Entrepreneurial Orientation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-27, January.
    4. D’Agostino, Lorena M. & Schiavo, Stefano, 2024. "Using trademarks to fend off import competition: Evidence from the top R&D-spending companies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(1).
    5. Dirk Crass, 2020. "Which firms use trademarks? Firm-level evidence from Germany on the role of distance, product quality and innovation," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(7), pages 730-755, August.
    6. Suominen, Arho & Deschryvere, Matthias & Narayan, Rumy, 2023. "Uncovering value through exploration of barriers - A perspective on intellectual property rights in a national innovation system," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    7. Bernadette Power & Gavin C. Reid, 2023. "Lifting the hood of supply and demand for trademarks of start‐ups: Partial observability estimates," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 311-321, January.
    8. Christoph Mödlhamer, 2020. "Innovativeness and the design of intellectual property rights in preferential trade agreements: A refinement of the North–South explanation," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 3(4), pages 329-348, December.
    9. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2022. "Effect of the duration of membership in the World Trade Organization on Trademark Applications," EconStor Preprints 253266, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    10. Pablo Morales & Meindert Flikkema & Carolina Castaldi & Ard‐Pieter de Man, 2024. "Why use or forgo formal and informal appropriation mechanisms? A qualitative study of sustainable innovations from small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 1937-1961, March.
    11. Carolina Castaldi, 2021. "Sustainable innovation and intellectual property rights: friends, foes or perfect strangers?," LEM Papers Series 2021/11, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    12. Joseph Amankwah-Amoah & Stephen Kehinde Medase, 2024. "Extracting Innovation Value from Intellectual Property: Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 8933-8967, June.
    13. Doris Schartinger & Michael Barber, 2025. "Firms’ intellectual property protection with national versus European design rights: a count model," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 130(8), pages 4157-4186, August.
    14. Cai, Xinyue & Li, Peigong & Zhu, Wanwan, 2025. "Spatial proximity in venture capital investments and assets intangibility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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