Abstract
The research centered on finding efficient means by which technology-based regional firms can procure funds from financial institutions, for use in their efforts to expand into new fields, acquire intellectual property, and subsequently use those in an effective manner. "Intellectual property finance", as this is termed, is functioning less well than it might at present, largely because of an asymmetry of information. For this project, the researchers focused on precisely the business strategies and management systems of companies and financial institutions, conducting a survey of a large number of companies and banks by means of questionnaires, together with selective personal interviews. They identified three reasons for the imperfect functioning of intellectual property finance: (1) a perception gap between regional banks and regional companies; (2) the failure of regional companies' intellectual property to reliably lead to improved performance; and (3) inadequate skills and experience in intellectual property finance, and substantial credit risk, on the part of regional banks. To improve the functioning of intellectual property finance, the researchers proposed that (1) regional companies decide workable tactics for utilizing technologies and intellectual property, linking them with business strategies and (2) regional banks establish sections in charge of intellectual property finance and re-examine the ways to evaluate technologies and intellectual property of customers' firms.
