Is Silence Golden? Patents versus Secrecy at the Firm Level

Hussinger, Katrin (März 2005): Is Silence Golden? Patents versus Secrecy at the Firm Level. SFB/TR 15 Discussion Paper No. 37

Abstract

In the 1990s, patenting schemes changed in many respects: upcoming new technologies accelerated the shift from price competition towards competition based on technical inventions, a worldwide surge in patenting took place, and the ‘patent thicket’ arose as a consequence of strategic patenting. This study analyzes the importance of patenting versus secrecy as an effective alternative to protect intellectual property in the inventions’ market phase. The sales figure with new products is introduced as a new measure for the importance of tools to protect IP among product innovating firms. Focusing on German manufacturing in 2000, it turns out that patents are important to protect intellectual property in the market, whereas secrecy seems to be rather important for inventions that are not commercialized yet.

• Dokumententyp: Paper
• Keywords: Innovation, Appropriation, Patents, Secrecy
• Fakultät: Sonderforschungsbereiche > Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems ; Sonderforschungsbereiche > Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems > C2 - Intellektuelles Eigentum, Aneignung von Innovationserträgen und Innovationswettbewerb
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 330 Wirtschaft
• JEL Classification: C34, C35, O33, O34
• Sprache: Englisch