Foreign Patenting Behavior of Small and Large Firms

摘要

This research identified differences in foreign patenting by small and largefirms. Specifically, whether small firms working in the same technological fields and with inventions of comparable value are able to patent as broadly as large firms, or are they inhibited by resource constraints or other factors. In addition to statistical analysis, principals in eight firms were interviewed to explore the differences in foreign patenting behavior among small firms. Highlights: a large proportion of large business patent families are international than small business families; more large firm patents are patented abroad than small firm patents; small business patents and large business patents are about evenly cited among the most highly cited patents; even when the field of technology is accounted for, a smaller proportion of small business patent families is international.