Do repeated alliances within patent pools encourage enterprise innovation? Evidence from MPEG LA
ISSN: 1750-614X
Article publication date: 14 March 2023
Issue publication date: 8 February 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether repeated alliances between two members of a patent pool boost enterprise innovation. Furthermore, this paper intends to determine whether the innovation performance becomes higher or lower based on the partnership characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
In this empirical study, hierarchical regression is used to analyze the longitudinal data obtained from 12 patent pools managed by MPEG LA during a time period ranging from 2006 to 2018. The members of patent pools comprise research institutions, firms and universities. Research analyses are performed based on a sample of 68,400 member pairs who had established repeated alliances. The information regarding such pairs is gathered from public databases.
Findings
Repeated alliances positively correlate with enterprise innovation performance in patent pools; this performance is higher when the two enterprises have exploratory collaborations. Conversely, the performance is lower when the partners have a similar technology base and are engaged in a technological competition (competitive learning and patent litigation). Moreover, the performance is lower when one partner demonstrates higher network centrality and richer structural holes than the other partner.
Originality/value
Patent pools play an instrumental role in eliminating patent-licensing barriers, thereby allowing mutual acquisition of complementary technologies, and cooperatively strengthening technology development. From the perspective of theories of coopetition, knowledge management and social network, this study explores the impact of patent pools on enterprise innovation performance and ascertains the moderating roles of technology coopetition, technology similarity and network position, thereby expanding the scope of innovation effect in the context of patent pools.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72274223, 71774177), the Project of the National Social Science Foundation of China (No. 21BJY019), the Key Scientific Research Project of Department of Education of Hunan Province (No. KR0022045), the Project of Department of Science and Technology of Hunan Province (No. 2014SK3228 ), and the Project of Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of Hunan Province (No. 22YBA400). The authors wish to thank the anonymous reviewers, and Dr. Chen Peng for their excellent advice and critique.
Liubin Lai and Yunsheng Zhang contributed equally to this work as joint first authors.
Citation
Lai, L. and Zhang, Y. (2024), "Do repeated alliances within patent pools encourage enterprise innovation? Evidence from MPEG LA", Chinese Management Studies, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 342-374. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-01-2021-0021
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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