TITLE:
Does Venture Capital Investment Lead to a Change in Start-Ups’ Intellectual Property Strategies?
AUTHORS:
Philipp Sandner, Christa Dufter, Richard Geibel
KEYWORDS:
Entrepreneurial Finance, Venture Capital, Patents, Trademarks, Intellectual Property
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Industrial and Business Management,
Vol.6 No.12,
December
26,
2016
ABSTRACT: This
paper examines the influence of venture capital (VC) funding on start-ups’
intellectual property (IP) strategies. More specifically, the number of
additionally filed patent and trademark applications after subsequent VC
funding rounds is investigated. The results from the analysis of 531 start-ups
show that VC funding has a strong influence on consecutive IP strategy. Already
first funding rounds lead to a remarkable growth of start-ups’ IP portfolios.
Yet, although VCs especially promote product commercialization of start-ups, a
greater growth of trademark compared to patent portfolios cannot be identified.
However, this changes during the progress along the venture cycle.