Intellectual property strategy : Licensing decisions and learning opportunities

This paper concerns companies' management of explicit knowledge defined and managed by Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). The paper is based on data from the first comparative survey of UK and Japanese Intellectual Property (IP) management which had a 44% response rate in Japan (211 replies) and 33% in the UK (259 replies). Other data sources included interviews with Japanese and UK IP managers. The findings presented here concern the role of licensing and learning in IP strategy, whether through licensing or patent information management (PIM). The study has several implications for IP strategy. Firstly, that IP strategy takes place in a strategic space defined by time, techno-legal scope and technological advance. Secondly, that, licensing decisions need consideration from the point of view of both licensees and licensors. Learning potential, costs and overall strategic appropriability are also important as well as the legal appropriability and access to complementary assets discussed by Teece. Thirdly, that in considering cross-licensing, there is the possibility that licensing decisions may not be a zero-sum game between licensee and licensor but a win-win game.