Search

Patent owners increasingly employ strategies called patent pledges. This strategy involves the owner offering a broad availability of their active patents for free or at a reasonable fee. Patent pledges span across multiple industries from automotive over information and communication technology to biotechnology. This research investigates patent pledges through an exploratory stance and by utilising a mixed-methods approach. The existing literature is inconsistent and lacks academic rigour. Most patent pledge studies are conceptual and lack the sufficient evidence to offer authoritative results. The first problem is although there exist several preliminary definitions of patent pledges, none are sufficiently derived from empirical data. A second problem is that that existing literature is inconclusive on the reasons why patent owners employ patent pledges. Previous scholars have predominantly relied on findings from studies of other sharing mechanisms, as well as the broad literature on open innovation and patent law. A third point is that research on the effect of patent pledges on technology diffusion remains unclear, because existing studies have utilised research methods with significant limitations and deliver contradictory results. This research addressed each problem in three distinct studies. Study 1 focused on the definition and taxonomy of patent pledges and derived its results from 60 patent pledge statements of patent owners. This secondary data was analysed by an abductive approach through multiple coding cycles. The result was a three-dimensional taxonomy of patent pledges. The patent pledge taxonomy was then extended to a patent licensing taxonomy which compromised every common type of patent licensing approach. Study 2 explored the motivation behind patent pledges and utilised case study research with two data sets: primary data from 22 semi-structured interviews and secondary data from 50 patent pledge statements. The study was able to access renowned experts directly involved in designing and executing patent pledges. Experts included presidents of patent departments from global firms and a former president of a national patent office. Study 3 developed an abstract agent-based model to examine the effects of patent pledges on technology diffusion. The simulation model enabled the investigation of inter-firm technology diffusion of two competing technologies, where only one was subject to a patent pledge. Two cases were considered: in case I both technologies were similar, but in case II the pledged technology was inferior. Study 1 revealed that • eight patent pledge types exist; • the most frequent patent pledge type is subject to certain conditions but can be accessed by the unrestricted public free of charge and that • the majority of patent pledges occur in the are of information and communication technologies. Study 2 revealed that • thirteen patent pledge motives in three categories exist; • the main goal of patent pledges is to drive technology diffusion and that • most other motives for patent pledges also relate to the goal of fostering technology diffusion. Study 3 revealed that • the relationship between the strength of patent pledges and their effect on technology adoption rates is not linear; • patent pledges can lead to a market share 'win' of an inferior technology that competes with a superior alternative and that • the time period in which the adopter category 'Early Majority' adopts is, in most cases, the crucial phase that determines the success of patent pledges. The three studies provide a substantial intervention in several ways. The empirical development of a patent pledge definition and two taxonomies facilitate the distinction to other licensing approaches and set a common ground for future research. The taxonomies constitute managerial tools that can be used to visualise patent licensing landscapes for specific units of interest. Insights about motives enable a better understanding of patent pledges and help practitioners as well as policymakers making informed decisions. Finally, the investigation of patent pledge effects on technology diffusion adds to the diffusion literature and supports (i) firms that need to evaluate whether or not to conduct a patent pledge; (ii) firms that need to react to patent pledges of competitors; and (iii) firms that face the decision whether to adopt a pledged technology.

In the worldwide knowledge-based economy, intellectual property (IP) is recognised as a key business asset. In the digital economy, whether for large corporates, SMEs or start-ups, it is not uncommon that innovative technologies, devices (products) and services are built from a complex set of IP. As organisations increasingly employ open innovation processes, IP is likely to not only result from internal R&D, but also from external sources, such as R&D partners, complementors and even competitors. Building and maintaining IP-based competitive advantage then rests on the effective acquisition (internal and external), exploitation and enforcement of IP. When having to manage complex IP portfolios and actor relations, an IP strategy is useful to provide guidance to decision makers. While business executives often express the need for better IP management tools and IP strategy formulation approaches, the corresponding literature is surprisingly scarce. In this thesis, a roadmapping-based approach is proposed for IP strategy formulation. While roadmapping is a widely adopted approach for strategy formulation at all firm levels, it has hardly been discussed in the IP management literature. Therefore, based on the strategic roadmapping approach, the IP roadmapping framework and the practical process model were developed for especially IP strategy formulation. The proposed IP strategy formulation approach integrates different strategy levels, provides clear visibility and facilitates communication and consensus among stakeholders in order to increase the prospects for better decision-making. The IP strategy formulation process is business centric, starting with an identification of business strategy objectives that can be supported by the means of IP, for instance, the creating of entry barriers and minimisation of the threats from substitutes. Throughout the process, these IP objectives are gradually translated into specific IP actions. The roadmapping approach then allows to align the timing and sequencing of these IP actions in support of the organisation's business objectives. The sequence of the IP actions can then be synthesised into a coherent IP strategy. The roadmapping-based IP strategy formulation approach was developed using a procedural action research approach. The prototype has been developed based on literature review and 20 interviews in total with IP or roadmapping experts, and then the approach has been tested and refined through three action research cycles based on 12 interviews with 17 IP practitioners and roadmapping experts, and 14 roadmapping workshops involving IP managers, innovation experts and business executives of large international companies, SMEs and start-ups. Accordingly, this research contributes to both practice and theory. It not only provides a novel roadmapping approach which enables and facilitates structured conversations among executives, innovation, technology and IP experts, who often find it difficult to engage in conversations about IP decision making, but also contributes to the IP management literature in which there is a paucity of studies on IP strategy formulation in practice. It also contributes to the roadmapping literature proposing a novel use case for this widely adopted strategy formulation approach. Additionally, this research also contributes to the strategic management literature with elaborations on the concepts of IP strategy and strategic alignment. The next stage for this research will be disseminating the tool widely and evaluating its commercialisation value for different purposes. This is going to be completed through close collaboration with IfM ECS and one independent technical consulting firm specialising in matters relating to IP. In addition, to help equip entrepreneurs with the tools they need for IP strategy formulation, the materials developed through this research will be made available online for downloading. The hope is that the materials can enable companies to conduct IP strategy formulation exercises by themselves, but also that this openly accessible material will be picked up by entrepreneurship teaching programmes. By spreading good practice on IP strategy formulation, it is expected that the toolkit can help companies to overcome some of the obstacles and maximise value from their IP.

Moral rights in copyright law are noneconomic rights that entitle the author to control how the author is divulged, modified, and attributed. They are based on the idea that each author alone stands in a special relation ("Relation A") to her work by virtue of creating it. Despite the quite voluminous literature, moral rights scholars have not specified in what this special relation could consist. My dissertation addresses this issue. More specifically, I answer two questions. First, what is the nature of Relation A? Second, assuming I provide a plausible account of Relation A, how could the law protect it? In answering the first question, I drawing on law, sociology, psychology, and philosophy to develop the first full account of the nature of Relation A. I show that this Relation consists in certain psychological states regarding perceptions of the author's empirical or "social self" as externalized in the work - what I call her externalized social self. In contrast to an abstract or ideal notion of the self typically propounded by moral rights advocates, the social self is built up by interaction between the author, the work, and non-authors, or "the other." It is not fixed and unchanging but subject to constant renegotiation - and the author is but one of the negotiators. This account has implications for just how moral rights protect Relation A. Importantly, this account of Relation A forces a shift in the scope and nature of moral rights. Because moral rights are limited tools to present and manage a specific aspect of the author's externalized social self, relevant protections are not focused entirely on the author, or even honor or reputation. Instead, the thing protected - the externalized social self - depends on what others think, not just what the author thinks. The externalized social self can be harmed only in limited ways - when its existence is threatened, and even then, only in certain circumstances. Moral rights, on this account, are not designed to protect some inner personality or mystical self; they are tools to present and manage the author's externalized social self in limited ways. What results is a set of protections that are weaker and narrower than most moral rights scholars would prefer. These protections are focused less on inviolate harm, honor, or reputation and more on managing a particular image of the self-as-presented.

Hawai'i was once an independent Indigenous sovereign island nation with a distinctive culture, history, and legislative past. The laws of the modern state of Hawai'i reflect that history as Indigenous heritage has been integrated into state law. However, during the last forty years the laws protecting Native Hawaiian rights have been challenged in Hawai'i through a series of significant land claim lawsuits. Native Hawaiian struggles for sovereignty are based on the assertion of their heritage rights in lawsuits. This dissertation explores the use of heritage in land claim lawsuits and the role it plays in the construction of a modern Indigenous identity. It uses Native Hawaiian efforts for land control in Hawai'i as a case study to explore how involvement in the legal process has impacted both Indigenous identity and heritage. In this dissertation I examine three major lawsuits following one line of legal precedent: traditional and customary access rights. The investigation answers the questions of how legal narrative construction using heritage impacts Indigenous identity; how heritage values are substantiated; what the role is of experts in formulating cases; if there is a measurable change over time in the way that cultural claims are structured; and what the impact is of increased Indigenous political leadership and land control on Native Hawaiian identity and heritage. To complete this research, I applied a mixed qualitative method approach of ethno-historical, socio-legal, and legal narrative analyses with content analysis to examine Indigenous textural production and court performance as forms of social practice. I supported my research with ethnographic semi-structured interviews and participant observation in recognition of Indigenous protocol. The results indicate that Native Hawaiian use of heritage in courtrooms has contributed to Indigenous identity construction by enhancing collective memory, increasing land control, and protecting group rights. The results also provide insight into how such actions by Indigenous peoples can advance upward social mobility, encourage collective identification and civic involvement, regenerate cultural practices, and strengthen group identity. This research provides new insights into how Indigenous heritage can be used as a means of Indigenous empowerment and develops a greater and more complex understanding of the uses of heritage for land control and sovereignty. These findings may be used by other special interest groups using heritage to achieve common goals.

This thesis is a socio-legal interdisciplinary study of risk governance in the oil and gas sector in the Russian North. Against a backdrop of the author's experience of training to be and working as a lawyer in both Siberia and the United States, it is based on four types of sources: (i) texts of relevant policies, laws, and administrative regulations; (ii) transcripts of official presidential meetings, addresses, and speeches on matters relevant to oil and gas development; (iii) observations obtained during fieldwork, including data from semistructured interviews; and (iv) energy statistics and results of various public polls. After a review of the basic characteristics and trends of the industry, highlighting the distinctive role hydrocarbons play in the Russian economy, society, and politics, the argument starts with theories of risk and risk governance in the context of the global energy sector. Moving on to rules of risk governance, the discussion homes in on how these rules actually work in the policy, legal, and regulatory regime of Russia. A subsequent chapter introduces the conceptual common denominator for analysing the dynamic between the principal parties in risk governance - the social concept of power. It includes a study of a trunk pipeline called (appropriately) the Power of Siberia, in which law emerges as a demarcation of sovereign power. The next chapter explains particular challenges of risk governance of the oil and gas sector through the concept of network power. The final chapter examines sovereign power structures responsible for governing risk posed by oil and gas activities, and the allocation of such risks and benefits, in Russia's 'Petrostate'. Throughout the thesis, the relevant Russian policy, legal, and regulatory regime, which serves as the case study, is closely interwoven with wider social theory. This study contributes to risk theory by proposing the Risk Governance Power Framework, an analytical framework for understanding power relations that shape risk governance of the oil and gas sector. The framework asserts that the following three factors play critical roles in influencing the power relations: (i) the strength of network power behind the hazardous activity; (ii) the capacity of the sovereign power structures and agents responsible for governing risks related to the activity to counter-balance the network power behind the hazardous activity; and (iii) the spatial and temporal allocation of individual and public risks and benefits. The network power of the oil and gas sector is premised on three dependences: technological, socio-economic, and political.