The offshoring of manufacturing has been the most visible ingredient of economic globalization in recent years. However, the rapid change in the global division of manufacturing has overshadowed another u2013 and perhaps even more significant phenomena u2013 namely the internationalization of the R&D and inventive activities of firms. In concrete terms this means that researchers and inventors increasingly tend to be located outside the domestic country of origin of firms, as captured in numerous empirical studies. This paper revisits the u201ccase for nonu2010globalizationu201d in the context of strategically important technologies in a truly global industry, namely the wireless telecommunications industry. It analyses, in comparative setu2010up, the evolution of the notified essential patent portfolios of four leading incumbents to assess to what degree and how R&D and inventive activity of this technological core of the industry is globalizing. Contrary to expectations the results clearly support the case for nonu2010globalization. They thereby raise a range of important issues and research avenues related to the organization of R&D, locational advantages and IPR management of firms.
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