The role of technology and relatedness in regional trademark activity

Abstract

This paper provides insights on trademark activity at the regional level via two objectives. First, it examines the relationship between technological capabilities and new trademark applications. Second, it examines whether regions branch out to new trademark specializations that are related to their existing specializations. We employ EUIPO's data to study 218 European NUTS-2 regions (16 countries) over the period 2000-2016. Results show that increased technological stock is associated with more trademark applications and that existing trademark relatedness induces new specializations. These findings contribute to better understanding of trademark activity and policies related to regional diversification including Smart Specialization.

Trademarks, patents and the appropriation strategies of incumbents: the scope of new firm formation in European regions

“…Our research also contributes to the nascent literature on the role of trademarks in industrial dynamics and regional innovation systems. In particular, we confirmed that trademarks may be complementary to patents as indicators of regional innovation capabilities and their evolution (as shown in this special issue by Block et al, 2021;Drivas, 2020;and Sáiz & Zofío, 2021). However, we show that regionally embedded knowledge protected by trademarks may only translate into higher entry rates in the absence of a pronounced appropriation strategy of incumbent firms or when entrants do not directly compete with the trademarking incumbents.…”

“…Trademarks can aid the commercialization potential of firms' innovations and raise additional barriers to competing firms to imitate. Drivas (2020) finds that trademarks measure marketing and commercialization activities for exploitation of technological innovations. Crass (2014) shows that the use of brands is associated with a 35% increase in sales of innovative products and Arora et al (2016) finds that the use of trademarks helps incumbents prolong their technologybased first mover advantage on the market.…”

Dynamics of regional diversification: a new approach using trademark data

“…This paper thus joins the formative work, not least in relation to Drivas (2020) as well as Sáiz and Zofío (2021) in this special issue, to demonstrate how trademark data might be adapted and used at the regional level. Our first aim is to help strengthen the bridge between the innovation studies literature that studies trademark filing behaviour, on the one hand, and the economic geography literature that emphasizes regional diversification, on the other.…”

“…Use of trademarks to trace product differentiation is in line with the product space approach (Hidalgo et al, 2007) that considers the relatedness of 'products' in the trade flows from countries (see also Capasso et al, 2019). Since trademarks and product-level trade flows are related, branching into new (or strengthening existing) trademarking activity provides a lens onto the regional comparative advantage (Drivas, 2020).…”

Using of Intellectual Property Rights in a Creative Industry in a Global Dimension

“…Further, given the relatively low standards and fees of obtaining trademarks, firmswith budget constraints may pursue trademark protection while relinquishing patent protection. [15] Copyright grants exclusive rights to the creators of original literary, scientific and artistic works. Copyright only prevents copying, not independent derivation.…”