Determinants of international patent strategy: Evidence from multinational automotive corporations

Amidst the rapid integration of world economies and the continual increase in market size of emerging economies, the geographic scope of the activities of large multinational corporations (MNCs) largely widened. Chinese companies have encountered numerous patent problems in their process of internationalization because of their lack of intellectual property (IP) management experience. To succeed internationally, Chinese companies must learn from the IP management experiences of their leading foreign counterparts. The present study analyzed the patent strategies (PSs) of 19 leading multinational corporations in the automotive manufacturing industry (hereafter referred to as "multinational automotive corporations" or "MACs"). A probability unit (Probit) model was adopted for regression analyses. Findings indicated three major determinants influencing the PS decisions of MACs, namely, the total market size of the host country, MACs' sales in the host country, imitative threat in the host country. MACs' R&D activities in the host country also have positive influence on the MACs' PS.