The strategic management of intellectual property: patent value and acquisitions

In this dissertation I explore the role and importance of patent strategy for appropriating returns from innovation. In particular, I examine the mechanisms through which firms increase appropriability from patenting by employing complementary resources and capabilities and gauge their contribution to firm performance. To this end, I perform three empirical studies. In the first study, I focus on measuring patent value and demonstrate that the importance of firm resources and capabilities is much higher than previously thought. I interpret these results as providing strong support for the view that the design of patent strategy is crucial for profiting from innovation. In the second study, I look into a sample of technology acquisitions and examine under what circumstances firms profit from combining previously separate patent rights. I demonstrate that the merging of overlapping patent portfolios give rise to inimitable synergies, albeit only in complex technology industries. In addition, I find that firms are more likely to acquire targets with patents when their patent productivity is low, when they have a technologically diverse patent portfolio in complex technology industries and when they face an increased threat of being involved in patent suits. In the third study, I explore the role of patent strategies in the non-technological domain. I demonstrate that recent regulatory changes enabling the patenting of business methods can help patentees capture value from business model and management innovations. Moreover, I find that patenting experience and access to complementary assets are both crucial elements of a patenting strategy aimed at increasing appropriability. Taken together, these studies contribute towards bringing studies of patenting and the resource-based view of the firm closer together, to mutual advantage. This results in a better understanding of the effectiveness of patents at the firm-level and in a clearer operationalization of concepts of resources and resource interdependence.This thesis is not currently available in ORA