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

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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.

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Notes

  1. Versus backward citations are forward citations received by a patent, which are typically informative of the subsequent impact of an invention. In this study we only focus on the references registered in the patent documents, the so-called backward citations (“prior art”). In empirical work, we control for forward citations.

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Acknowledgments

This research is funded by Sichuan University’s Special Research Program for the Philosophy Social Science from the Subordinate Universities of Ministry of Education’s Basic Research Foundation (SKX201004; SKYB-201302), and National Science Foundation of China (NSFC, grant No. 71003061; 71033001) and National Social Science Foundation of China (NSSFC, grant No. 12&ZD098; 12&ZD199).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Sichuan University, Wangjiang Road 29, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Yuandi Wang & Xin Gu

  2. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Institute, Sichuan University, Wangjiang Road 29, Chengdu, 610064, China

    Yuandi Wang & Xin Gu

  3. Faculty of Management and Economics, Dalian University of Technology, Linggong Road 2, Dalian, 116023, China

    Xiongfeng Pan

  4. School of Economic Management, China Institute for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Zhejiang University of Technology, No. 288, Liuhe Road, Hangzhou, 310023, China

    Yantai Chen

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  1. Yuandi Wang
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Correspondence to Yantai Chen.

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Wang, Y., Pan, X., Chen, Y. et al. Do references in transferred patent documents signal learning opportunities for the receiving firms?. Scientometrics 95, 731–752 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-0962-3

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