Strategic trademark management: a systematic literature review and prospects for future research

Although recent studies have investigated trademarks in terms of economics, marketing, and management, strategic trademark management on the part of enterprises remains poorly understood, and a unified theoretical framework has not been established. To promote research in this area and guide enterprises’ strategic trademark management, we have performed a systematic literature review covering articles from the last 40 years and developed a theoretical framework based on three dimensions: antecedents–core mechanisms–outcomes. After defining and highlighting three activity domains: rights, licensing, and litigation—within which trademark-related strategic actions are typically undertaken, we focus on two core mechanisms: trademark strategy and strategic trademark management. Furthermore, four types of trademark strategy and five decision-making factors in trademark management are summarized, in addition to the antecedents and outcomes of strategic trademark management. Finally, according to the theoretical framework, we propose four areas of future research: trademark activity domains, trademark strategy, strategic trademark management, and enterprise performance of trademark management.