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Patenting for Global Markets: A U. S. Firm Meets the Demands of the New Globalism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Deepak Somaya
Deepak Somaya*
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
*
Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720–1900, USA. Tel: 510 923 9053; Fax: 510 643 1412; E-mail: somaya@haas.berkeley.edu
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Abstract

Beginning in the early 70s, ACME, a highly innovative and successful U.S. chemical firm, began commercializing an important and versatile polymer invention. This case study chronicles the many travails faced by ACME in obtaining patent protection for its innovations in major developed economies. ACME's experiences suggest that international differences in patent regimes that stem from ideological, historical, and institutional differences are pervasive, and need to be accounted for in a company's patenting approach. International strategy in the patent area is thus inherently multi-domestic. Further, we also observe that in global industries, obtaining a modicum of exclusivity through strong patent protection in certain key markets may be adequate to preserve a firm's competitive advantage versus multinational rivals. Moreover, a firm's patent strategy seems intrinsically integrated with its continuing innovative and commercial performance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , April 1999 , pp. 99 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 1999 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

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Footnotes

* The work on this paper owes a deep debt to Robert Kagan and Lee Axelrad, and the attorneys of ACME. All faults are solely the responsibility of the author.

References

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