The Impact of Patent Infringement Litigation on Customer-Based Brand Equity

With continuous news headlines related to patents in the public media, awareness of patents’ value is spreading, and patents are valuable not only to a firm but also to consumers. Therefore, this study makes an effort to explore the theoretical mechanism of the effects of patent infringement litigation (PIL) on customers. More specifically, this study examines the influence of PIL on customer-based brand equity (CBBE) and brand innovation image (BII). Based on this study’s findings, PIL’s outcomes directly affect BII, which in turn indirectly affects CBBE. That is, people will evaluate a winning brand as a highly innovative brand, which contributes to higher brand equity. However, in regards to PIL’s direct effect on CBBE, there are some differences between Apple and Samsung. In the case of Apple, the winner image positively affects only one dimension of CBBE, brand loyalty, while for Samsung, the plaintiff’s image negatively affects brand loyalty.