Licensing Strategy of Japanese Firms and Competitive Advantage

Abstract

This study defines inventions traditionally regarded as mere fruits of R&D as “internal inventions," and inventions resulting from other factors collectively as “non-internal inventions." The objective is to show that firms make inventions not only on technological factors. Also, a rough analysis method is proposed to identify how many non-internal inventions are filed for patents, and the case study clarifies the promoting factors. This study aims to demonstrate that the perspective of licensing business, completely distinct from science and technology, is also an adequate explanation of firms' behavior in relation to inventions and patent filing.