Do references in transferred patent documents signal learning opportunities for the receiving firms?

  • Authors:

  • Yuandi Wang;Xiongfeng Pan;Yantai Chen;Xin Gu

  • Affiliations:

  • School of Management, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China 610064 and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Institute, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China 610064;Faculty of Management and Economics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China 116023;School of Economic Management, China Institute for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China 310023;School of Management, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China 610064 and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Institute, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China 610064

  • Venue:
  • Scientometrics
  • Year:
  • 2013

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Abstract

In this study, we empirically investigate the role of references in patents in a firm's technological learning and innovation when the patents are transferred (i.e., technology licensing activities) to these firms. This study is based on a sample of 68 Chinese high-tech firms that engaged in patent technology licensing while using a matching sample of non-licensee firms, and it examines covered patents in licensee agreements that were originally registered in the European Patent Office between 2000 and 2005. Empirical results indicate that the reference scope (defined as the number of different patent classes--classes that the examined patent does not belong to--in the backward citations) and the time lag of the backward citations each has a positive effect and a negative effect on the licensee firms' innovation outcomes respectively, measured as the number of Chinese patent applications during the 5 years after the licensing year. However, it failed to find a positive effect of the science-based citations (defined as backward citations to journal articles) as we predicted.