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Inventions under siege? The impact of technology competition on licensing

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  • Grimpe, Christoph
  • Hussinger, Katrin

Abstract

In recent years, firms have increasingly contributed to and been confronted with a patent landscape characterized by numerous but marginal inventions, overlapping claims and patent fences. Literature suggests that both the fragmentation of ownership and the threat of a firm's patent applications being blocked by competitors' patents lead to increased patenting and inlicensing activity. In this paper, we investigate the effect of expected blocking on firms' engagement in in- and out-licensing. Based on a sample of more than 400 German manufacturing firms our results show that firms engage in in- and out-licensing if technology competition increases which is in line with the argument that licensing can mitigate hold-up problems in technology markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Grimpe, Christoph & Hussinger, Katrin, 2009. "Inventions under siege? The impact of technology competition on licensing," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-039, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:09039
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nishimura, Junichi & Okada, Yosuke, 2014. "R&D portfolios and pharmaceutical licensing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1250-1263.
    2. Florian Köhler, 2011. "Patent cross-licensing, the influence of IP interdependency and the moderating effect of firm size," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 448-467, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Licensing; blocking patents; discrete and complex technologies; technology competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures
    • 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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