The Impact of Initial Intellectual Property Decisions of Start-Ups on Innovation Performance

Abstract

We analyze the initial intellectual property (IP) decisions of 336 start-ups in IP-intensive industries in China, distinguishing among patents, trademarks, and IP portfolios. Our empirical results show that the initial IP decisions of start-ups have an impact on their innovation performance. Compared with start-ups that choose trademarks or patents, start-ups that choose IP portfolios have higher financial and non-financial innovation performance. Furthermore, venture capital positively moderates the relationship between initial IP decisions and non-financial innovation performance. VC-backed start-ups that choose IP portfolios are more likely than other start-ups to achieve higher non-financial innovation performance. Finally, strategic planning also plays a role in the relationship. Among the start-ups that choose IP portfolios, those with high strategic planning gain higher non-financial innovation performance. This paper contributes to research on initial IP decisions in entrepreneurial contexts by incorporating IP portfolios to initial IP decisions and uncovering the role of initial IP decisions in innovation performance.