CSTIO Seminar with Prof Marco Giarratana (IE University)

Trademark Intangibles and the Sale of Patented Technologies

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between firms patent selling activities and downstream marketing intangibles in the form of trademarks. Although complementary to the innovation process, the downstream marketing investments could also have opposite effects. On the one hand, they can reduce sales transactions of technologies given that they increase protection and opportunity costs due to their co-specialized nature. On the other hand, they could reduce information asymmetries and facilitate transactions with potential, no competitive buyers since they clarify the exact competitive downstream positioning of the potential technology seller. 

Empirically, we draw on a sample of patenting SP1500 companies for the period 1990–2017. Our results highlight that the more recent trademarks a firm owns, the more patented technologies are being sold by the firm, confirming that marketing investments create complementary value for technology. Particularly, the effect is stronger when the trademark portfolio is composed by trademarks with focused product definitions. Furthermore, our findings show that this effect becomes stronger for firms engaged in the production of scientific knowledge and diversified firms. On the contrary, the effect is weaker for firms with established manufacturing capacities. Overall, this study contributes to the technology innovation literature highlighting the key informational value and role of trademarks for the external commercialization of technologies.

About the speaker

Marco S. Giarratana is currently the  Vice-Rector of Research and Coordination at IE University in Madrid, Spain. He is also Professor of Strategy at IE University/IE Business School. He was previously associate professor at the University Carlos III (Madrid), and full professor at the Bocconi University (Milan). His main research interests focus on synergetic vs. redeployment diversification, patents and trademarks, and strategic sustainability. From 2017 to 2019, he was the Chair of Strategy Department at IE University.  He is currently Principal Investigator in the Research Project SOCIALIPR and Associate Program Chair for the IG Knowledge & Innovation at the Strategic Management Society. More information at https://sites.google.com/faculty.ie.edu/marco-s-giarratana