특허분쟁 경험이 기업의 특허활용전략에 미치는 영향

This paper studies the impact of patent infringement litigation on the strategic use of patents in the context of tech-oriented industries in Korea. While it may include significant costs to deal with the litigation at the first place, the sued experience can vaccinate a defendant firm in a way that it further invests in patent management and strategically uses the intellectual property rights against competitors. Using 327 Korean firms in the pharmaceutical sector and the semiconductor and telecommunication sector, the empirical study finds that firms that have been sued for patent infringement lawsuits are more likely to sue their competitors for patent infringement as well as to significantly increase R&D inputs compared to those not being sued. Specifically, the experience of being litigated increases the propensity of sueing others by 60% and the effect becomes stronger when the litigated firm attempted to countersue the plaintiff of initially involved lawsuit. The findings suggest that firms learn how to manage and exploit their intellectual property rights dealing with the unexpected patent litigation experiences.