中国创新型企业专利行为-实证调查研究FBR2012.pdfVIP

Front. Bus. Res. China 2012, 6(1): 55–74 DOI 10.3868/s070-001-012-0003-0 RESEARCH ARTICLE Shengce Ren, Jianxin You Appropriation of Innovation and Patent Behaviors of Technological Firms in the Yangtze Delta Area Abstract In the transition from “made in China” to “invented in China,” what is the motivation of Chinese firms in applying for patents? Why do some firms bypass patents? How is patenting developing within Chinese firms? This paper attempts to answer these questions using data of Chinese firms in the Yangtze River Delta region. Results indicate that, for product innovation, obtaining the lead time for market entry is of top priority in innovation protection, followed by confidentiality and patent protection. As for process innovation, confidentiality ranks first, followed by patent protection and obtaining the lead time. There is a significant and positive relationship between prior experience of patent licensing and possibility of future patent licensing. Firms with painful patent litigation experience tend to avoid it in the future. It is also found that there are great differences in patent behaviors between Chinese enterprises and their foreign counterparts. Keywords appropriation of innovation, patent behavior, Chinese technological firms, Yangtze River Delta Area 1 Introduction As a source of competitive advantage, patents represent a company’s ability. Reitzig Puranam (2009) argue that a patent is a capability to appropriate Received December 12, 2010 Shengce Ren () School of Economics and Management, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai 200135, China E-mail: rensc2008@ Jianxin You School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China E-mail: yjx2256@ 56