Value and barriers in the creation of intellectual property in advanced manufacturing: a country comparison

Abstract

Purpose: The basic aim of this research is to determine to what extent intellectual property owners of advanced manufacturing technologies compensate the disadvantages of their small size and peripheral company location by innovations in these areas. Design/methodology/approach: We developed an empirical study of patents from two completely different economic areas, a central and a peripheral one, represented by Germany and Spain, respectively, in the domain of the Key Enabling Technology (KET) of advanced manufacturing technologies in robotics and automation. From the population of 211 Spanish patents granted and a random sample of 500 German patents, from the files of the US Patent and Trademark Office, we developed a series of logistic regression models. Findings Judging from the predicted possibilities to develop a patent with more citations, a proxy for its value, the study shows that whereas big companies from central locations do not obtain more heavily cited patents from sharing their R&D activity with other firms or research institutes, smaller manufacturing firms in peripheral areas, namely, Spain, may find this advantageous. Additionally, patents containing fewer cited articles and citations of previous patents, tend to be cited more frequently. Finally, this same outcome is also observed with patents showing shorter time between the application and grant. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on patent value which examines the KET of advanced manufacturing technologies in robotics and automation, comparing a central to a peripheral geographic environment, and determining the number, diversity and size of patent assignees. Our results prove relevant in general for manufacturing businesses, especially in the Machine-Tool and machinery producing industry. Overwhelmingly, these firms tend to be SMEs basing their marketing activity entirely on a Business-to-Business (B2B) focus, and facing serious obstacles for R&D activity.