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To Be Financed or Not … - The Role of Patents for Venture Capital Financing

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  • Haeussler, Carolin
  • Harhoff, Dietmar
  • Mueller, Elisabeth

Abstract

This paper investigates how patent applications and grants held by new ventures improve their ability to attract venture capital (VC) financing. We argue that investors are faced with considerable uncer-tainty and therefore rely on patents as signals when trying to assess the prospects of potential portfolio companies. For a sample of VC-seeking German and British biotechnology companies we have identified all patents filed at the European Patent Office (EPO). Applying hazard rate analysis, we find that in the presence of patent applications, VC financing occurs earlier. Our results also show that VCs pay attention to patent quality, financing those ventures faster which later turn out to have high-quality patents. Patent oppositions increase the likelihood of receiving VC, but ultimate grant decisions do not spur VC financing, presumably because they are anticipated. Our empirical results and interviews with VCs suggest that the process of patenting generates signals which help to overcome the liabilities of newness faced by new ventures.

Suggested Citation

  • Haeussler, Carolin & Harhoff, Dietmar & Mueller, Elisabeth, 2009. "To Be Financed or Not … - The Role of Patents for Venture Capital Financing," Discussion Papers in Business Administration 8970, University of Munich, Munich School of Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:lmu:msmdpa:8970
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Garry A. Gabison, 2015. "Venture Capital Principles in the European ICT Ecosystem: How can they help ICT innovation?," JRC Research Reports JRC98783, Joint Research Centre.
    2. Arqué-Castells, Pere, 2012. "How venture capitalists spur invention in Spain: Evidence from patent trajectories," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 897-912.
    3. Hanna Hottenrott & Bronwyn H. Hall & Dirk Czarnitzki, 2016. "Patents as quality signals? The implications for financing constraints on R&D," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 197-217, April.
    4. Bottazzi, Laura, 2009. "The role of venture capital in alleviating financial constraints of innovative firms," EIB Papers 9/2009, European Investment Bank, Economics Department.
    5. Meuleman, Miguel & De Maeseneire, Wouter, 2012. "Do R&D subsidies affect SMEs’ access to external financing?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 580-591.
    6. Dirk Dohse & Rajeev K. Goel & Devrim Göktepe‐Hultén, 2021. "Paths academic scientists take to entrepreneurship: Disaggregating direct and indirect influences," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(7), pages 1740-1753, October.
    7. Comino, Stefano & Graziano, Clara, 2015. "How many patents does it take to signal innovation quality?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 66-79.
    8. Annamaria Conti & Jerry Thursby & Marie Thursby, 2013. "Patents as Signals for Startup Financing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 592-622, September.
    9. Johannes Koenen & Martin Peitz, 2012. "The Economics of Pending Patents," Chapters, in: Joseph E. Harrington Jr & Yannis Katsoulacos (ed.), Recent Advances in the Analysis of Competition Policy and Regulation, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Koenen, Johannes & Peitz, Martin, 2015. "Firm reputation and incentives to “milk” pending patents," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 18-29.
    11. Darcy, Jacques & Krämer-Eis, Helmut & Guellec, Dominique & Debande, Olivier, 2009. "Financing technology transfer," EIB Papers 10/2009, European Investment Bank, Economics Department.
    12. Block, Joern H. & De Vries, Geertjan & Schumann, Jan H. & Sandner, Philipp, 2014. "Trademarks and venture capital valuation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 525-542.
    13. Harhoff, Dietmar, 2009. "The role of patents and licenses in securing external finance for innovation," EIB Papers 11/2009, European Investment Bank, Economics Department.
    14. Bronwyn H. Hall, 2010. "The Financing of Innovative Firms," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 1(1).
    15. Desiderio Romero-Jordán & María Delgado-Rodríguez & Inmaculada Álvarez-Ayuso & Sonia Lucas-Santos, 2014. "Assessment of the public tools used to promote R&D investment in Spanish SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 959-976, December.
    16. Bertoni, Fabio & Tykvová, Tereza, 2013. "Which form of venture capital is most supportive of innovation? Evidence from European biotechnology companies," FZID Discussion Papers 69-2013, University of Hohenheim, Center for Research on Innovation and Services (FZID).
    17. Mueller, Elisabeth & Cockburn, Iain M. & MacGarvie, Megan, 2013. "Access to intellectual property for innovation: Evidence on problems and coping strategies from German firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 529-541.
    18. Jaroslava Rajchlová & Zdeněk Brož & Michaela Baranyková & Michal Polák, 2011. "Private equity and venture capital financing in the Czech Republic and other european countries - development, opportunities and limitations," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 59(7), pages 307-316.
    19. Power Jane & Power Bernadette & Ryan Geraldine, 2022. "Determinants of equity financing: a demand-side analysis of Irish indigenous technology-based firms," The Irish Journal of Management, Sciendo, vol. 41(1), pages 52-68, July.
    20. Kimberlee Weatherall & Elizabeth Webster, 2014. "Patent Enforcement: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 312-343, April.
    21. Laursen, Keld & Salter, Ammon J., 2014. "The paradox of openness: Appropriability, external search and collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 867-878.
    22. Hughes, A. & Mina, A., 2010. "The Impact of the Patent System on SMEs," Working Papers wp411, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    23. Yu Zhang & Xianming Wu & Hao Zhang & Chan Lyu, 2018. "Cross-Border M&A and the Acquirers’ Innovation Performance: An Empirical Study in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-25, May.
    24. Bertoni, Fabio & Tykvová, Tereza, 2012. "Which form of venture capital is most supportive of innovation?," ZEW Discussion Papers 12-018, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    patents; venture capital; intellectual property rights; R&D; biotechnology;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage

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