Is It Blocked or Dredged? Analysis of the Inhibitory Effect of Patent Assets and R&D Stock on the Market Value Impact of Patent Thickets in Chinese High-Tech Enterprises

With the growing complexity of innovation, numerous patentees with patents needed for corporate innovation can act as a forest of thorns for companies, often referred to as “Patent Thickets.” These thickets increase the patenting transaction costs and depreciate the company’s market value. However,...

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Main Authors: Kai Luo, Jia Ren, Yibo Wang, Jun Wan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-07-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251359516
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author Kai Luo
Jia Ren
Yibo Wang
Jun Wan
author_facet Kai Luo
Jia Ren
Yibo Wang
Jun Wan
author_sort Kai Luo
collection DOAJ
description With the growing complexity of innovation, numerous patentees with patents needed for corporate innovation can act as a forest of thorns for companies, often referred to as “Patent Thickets.” These thickets increase the patenting transaction costs and depreciate the company’s market value. However, few studies have examined the mechanism of patent thickets’s impact on firms’ market value in the Chinese context. Based on the patent and market value data of 419 high-tech enterprises in China, this study finds that patent thickets reduce the market value of a company. However, firms with more patent assets can better protect themselves from the depreciation caused by patent thickets by building up their R&D resources, enabling them to generate more of their patented assets internally. This reduces the costs of purchasing patents from outside sources and can enhance the firm’s market value. This study suggests that to mitigate the negative impact of the patent thickets on firms’ market value, firms must build up their R&D inventories. By doing so, they can acquire more patents in-house, thereby protecting their patent rights.
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publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher SAGE Publishing
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series SAGE Open
spelling doaj-art-9eb8f0cd6b8e4dc6bc02d8983dcf56ae2025-08-20T02:46:28ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402025-07-011510.1177/21582440251359516Is It Blocked or Dredged? Analysis of the Inhibitory Effect of Patent Assets and R&D Stock on the Market Value Impact of Patent Thickets in Chinese High-Tech EnterprisesKai Luo0Jia Ren1Yibo Wang2Jun Wan3 Shool of Management, Wuhan Textile University, Hubei, China Shool of Management, Wuhan Textile University, Hubei, China Shool of Management, Wuhan Textile University, Hubei, China Shool of Management, Wuhan Textile University, Hubei, ChinaWith the growing complexity of innovation, numerous patentees with patents needed for corporate innovation can act as a forest of thorns for companies, often referred to as “Patent Thickets.” These thickets increase the patenting transaction costs and depreciate the company’s market value. However, few studies have examined the mechanism of patent thickets’s impact on firms’ market value in the Chinese context. Based on the patent and market value data of 419 high-tech enterprises in China, this study finds that patent thickets reduce the market value of a company. However, firms with more patent assets can better protect themselves from the depreciation caused by patent thickets by building up their R&D resources, enabling them to generate more of their patented assets internally. This reduces the costs of purchasing patents from outside sources and can enhance the firm’s market value. This study suggests that to mitigate the negative impact of the patent thickets on firms’ market value, firms must build up their R&D inventories. By doing so, they can acquire more patents in-house, thereby protecting their patent rights.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251359516
spellingShingle Kai Luo
Jia Ren
Yibo Wang
Jun Wan
Is It Blocked or Dredged? Analysis of the Inhibitory Effect of Patent Assets and R&D Stock on the Market Value Impact of Patent Thickets in Chinese High-Tech Enterprises
SAGE Open
title Is It Blocked or Dredged? Analysis of the Inhibitory Effect of Patent Assets and R&D Stock on the Market Value Impact of Patent Thickets in Chinese High-Tech Enterprises
title_full Is It Blocked or Dredged? Analysis of the Inhibitory Effect of Patent Assets and R&D Stock on the Market Value Impact of Patent Thickets in Chinese High-Tech Enterprises
title_fullStr Is It Blocked or Dredged? Analysis of the Inhibitory Effect of Patent Assets and R&D Stock on the Market Value Impact of Patent Thickets in Chinese High-Tech Enterprises
title_full_unstemmed Is It Blocked or Dredged? Analysis of the Inhibitory Effect of Patent Assets and R&D Stock on the Market Value Impact of Patent Thickets in Chinese High-Tech Enterprises
title_short Is It Blocked or Dredged? Analysis of the Inhibitory Effect of Patent Assets and R&D Stock on the Market Value Impact of Patent Thickets in Chinese High-Tech Enterprises
title_sort is it blocked or dredged analysis of the inhibitory effect of patent assets and r d stock on the market value impact of patent thickets in chinese high tech enterprises
url https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251359516
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