Risk factors and mechanisms of technology and insignia copying—A first empirical approach

This paper examines the relationship between a firm's strategic framework and business environment and the probability of becoming the target of “copying”, differentiated into (i) unauthorized reproduction of its technological product elements or insignia, and (ii) patent and trademark infringement. Based on bivariate and multivariate analyses of survey data, we show patterns of the links between being (legally or illegally) imitated and IP protection (e.g., defensive publishing), general strategy (e.g., selling products abroad or off-shoring R&D activities) and organizational factors (e.g., firm size). Management implications for successful strategies against the different types of being copied are derived.

[1]  A. Arora.  Contracting for tacit knowledge: the provision of technical services in technology licensing contracts , 1996 .

[2]  D. Shepherd,et al.  Can entrepreneurial firms benefit from product piracy , 2008 .

[3]  C. Shapiro,et al.  Counterfeit-Product Trade , 1986 .

[4]  Victor V. Cordell,et al.  Counterfeit purchase intentions: Role of lawfulness attitudes and product traits as determinants , 1996 .

[5]  Vincenzo Denicolò,et al.  Patents, Secrets, and the First-Inventor Defense , 2004 .

[6]  Vijay Mahajan,et al.  Software Piracy: Estimation of Lost Sales and the Impact on Software Diffusion , 1995 .

[7]  Edwin Mansfield,et al.  How Rapidly Does New Industrial Technology Leak Out , 1985 .

[8]  Paul Belleflamme,et al.  Piracy and Competition , 2005, SSRN Electronic Journal.

[9]  K. Blind,et al.  Motives to patent: Empirical evidence from Germany , 2006 .

[10]  Kal Raustiala,et al.  The Piracy Paradox Revisited , 2009 .

[11]  Carl Shapiro,et al.  Foreign Counterfeiting of Status Goods , 1986 .

[12]  Knut Blind,et al.  Interrelation between patenting and standardisation strategies: empirical evidence and policy implications , 2004 .

[13]  A. Jaffe.  Technological Opportunity and Spillovers of R&D: Evidence from Firms&Apos; Patents, Profits and Market Value , 1986 .

[14]  Elizabeth Webster,et al.  Patent Infringement in Australia: Results from a Survey , 2010 .

[15]  D. Teece,et al.  Managing Intellectual Capital: Licensing and Cross-Licensing in Semiconductors and Electronics , 1997 .

[16]  C. Shapiro,et al.  Systems Competition and Network Effects , 1994 .

[17]  N. Harabi,et al.  Appropriability of technical innovations an empirical analysis , 1995 .

[18]  G. Grossman,et al.  Innovation and growth in the global economy , 1993 .

[19]  Marc Rysman,et al.  Patents and the Performance of Voluntary Standard Setting Organizations , 2005 .

[20]  K. R. Conner,et al.  Software piracy: an analysis of protection strategies , 1991 .

[21]  V. Denicoló,et al.  Patents, Secrets, and the First-Inventor Defense , 2001 .

[22]  E. Kitch,et al.  The Nature and Function of the Patent System , 1977, The Journal of Law and Economics.

[23]  A. Arundel.  The relative effectiveness of patents and secrecy for appropriation , 2001 .

[24]  Yi Qian,et al.  Impacts of Entry by Counterfeiters , 2008 .