Title: Case studies of Chinese firms' experiences with intellectual property-conditioned state incentives

Authors: Dan Prud'homme; Xingle Long

Addresses: Center for Global R&D Management and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China ' School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, China

Abstract: This paper explores how useful China's intellectual property (IP)-conditioned state incentives - especially subsidies and awards tied to patenting requirements - are to improving Chinese firms' competitiveness. Based upon three short case studies derived from interviews with Chinese firms in Jiangsu province, we reach several tentative conclusions. First, the incentives provide external resources that can directly and indirectly help firms improve their competitiveness. Second, the incentives may be particularly useful for firms facing significant patent thickets. Third, the incentives are not always sufficiently funded or accessible. Fourth, the state sometimes precludes the incentives from covering the costs of in-licensing foreign-owned IP and technology, which can be counterproductive to the state's ultimate objective of helping Chinese firms catch up with foreign incumbents. Overall, we conclude that Jiangsu's IP-conditioned state incentives somewhat help indigenous firms improve their competitiveness, but could be more optimally formulated and administered.

Keywords: intellectual property (IP)-conditioned government incentives; state patent incentives; China; Chinese firms; competitiveness; patent thickets; patent portfolios; strategy; case studies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTPM.2019.101165

International Journal of Technology, Policy and Management, 2019 Vol.19 No.3, pp.213 - 225

Received: 12 Jul 2017
Accepted: 13 Jan 2018
Published online: 26 Jul 2019 *

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