Open Intellectual Property Strategies for Emerging Technologies - An Exploratory, Mixed-Method Investigation of Patent Pledges
type: CreativeWork
description: Patent owners increasingly employ strategies called patent pledges. This strategy involves the owner offering a broad availability of their active patents for free or at a reasonable fee. Patent pledges span across multiple industries from automotive over information and communication technology to biotechnology. This research investigates patent pledges through an exploratory stance and by utilising a mixed-methods approach. The existing literature is inconsistent and lacks academic rigour. Most patent pledge studies are conceptual and lack the sufficient evidence to offer authoritative results. The first problem is although there exist several preliminary definitions of patent pledges, none are sufficiently derived from empirical data. A second problem is that that existing literature is inconclusive on the reasons why patent owners employ patent pledges. Previous scholars have predominantly relied on findings from studies of other sharing mechanisms, as well as the broad literature on open innovation and patent law. A third point is that research on the effect of patent pledges on technology diffusion remains unclear, because existing studies have utilised research methods with significant limitations and deliver contradictory results. This research addressed each problem in three distinct studies. Study 1 focused on the definition and taxonomy of patent pledges and derived its results from 60 patent pledge statements of patent owners. This secondary data was analysed by an abductive approach through multiple coding cycles. The result was a three-dimensional taxonomy of patent pledges. The patent pledge taxonomy was then extended to a patent licensing taxonomy which compromised every common type of patent licensing approach. Study 2 explored the motivation behind patent pledges and utilised case study research with two data sets: primary data from 22 semi-structured interviews and secondary data from 50 patent pledge statements. The study was able to access renow…
abstract: Patent owners increasingly employ strategies called patent pledges. This strategy involves the owner offering a broad availability of their active patents for free or at a reasonable fee. Patent pledges span across multiple industries from automotive over information and communication technology to biotechnology. This research investigates patent pledges through an exploratory stance and by utilising a mixed-methods approach. The existing literature is inconsistent and lacks academic rigour. Most patent pledge studies are conceptual and lack the sufficient evidence to offer authoritative results. The first problem is although there exist several preliminary definitions of patent pledges, none are sufficiently derived from empirical data. A second problem is that that existing literature is inconclusive on the reasons why patent owners employ patent pledges. Previous scholars have predominantly relied on findings from studies of other sharing mechanisms, as well as the broad literature on open innovation and patent law. A third point is that research on the effect of patent pledges on technology diffusion remains unclear, because existing studies have utilised research methods with significant limitations and deliver contradictory results. This research addressed each problem in three distinct studies. Study 1 focused on the definition and taxonomy of patent pledges and derived its results from 60 patent pledge statements of patent owners. This secondary data was analysed by an abductive approach through multiple coding cycles. The result was a three-dimensional taxonomy of patent pledges. The patent pledge taxonomy was then extended to a patent licensing taxonomy which compromised every common type of patent licensing approach. Study 2 explored the motivation behind patent pledges and utilised case study research with two data sets: primary data from 22 semi-structured interviews and secondary data from 50 patent pledge statements. The study was able to access renow…
author: Ehrnsperger, Jonas
language: eng
keywords: patent, pledge, ip, intellectual property, technology diffusion, strategy, management, taxonomy, motive, adoption
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/a57d44dc-94f3-4ad6-8f3b-5e481cfd695f/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2020-10-01
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:07Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.63934