Technological knowledge constitutes a major
source of competitive advantage because it
influences a firm’s opportunities to reduce costs
or increase differentiation from competitors.
Thus, protecting a firm’s proprietary
technologies is essential in hypercompetitive and
dynamic environments.
Main drivers of out-licensing
Generating
revenues
Generating revenues
refers to the purely
financial dimension
of technology
licensing.
Access
Intellectual
property may be
the only possibility
to gain access to
another firm’s
technology
portfolio.
Industry
standards
A company may
have to actively
find external
adopters of its
technology to
establish
industry
standards.
Profit from
infringements
Intended or
unintended
infringements of
intellectual
property may be
identified to profit
from infringements.
Learning
effects
Technology
licensing can be a
means to
increase the
speed of a firm’s
R&D activities by
realizing learning
effects.
Freedom
to operate
Firms may
cross-license
their
intellectual
property
portfolios to
ensure
freedom to
operate