INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: AN EXPENSIVE EXERCISE FOR START-UP FIRMS AND ENTREPRENEURS

The new technologies are emerging at tremendous speed and the organizations are in thrust for getting Intellectual property Rights (IPR) for their organizations. Nanotechnology is also regarded as developing technology and it is believed that it will influence on all the aspects of human lives in the next coming decades. Nano-electronics industry is a driving force behind significant economic and structural changes in the world markets, where the leap frogging firms and entrepreneurs are findings their ways to commercialize their products and services. The pace of technological change within the sector and its broad impact on most, if not all, other industries make it an extremely rich area to study. This paper examines how intellectual property rights (IPR) have played a role in the development of the nano-electronics industry as a whole and also how IPR has influenced the activities of nanotechnology firms and has, in many respects, forced them to take a 'core competencies ' approach prior to the mainstream popularity of the notion. It is argued that, IPR and patents in particular, have played a significant role in the nano-electronics industry, particularly with regards to their financial impact on firm strategies