システム情報系　社会工学域　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    

         平成25年度　　ファカルティ・セミナー

                       (Faculty Seminar)

日　時　：　2013年11月20日(水)　　16:30-18:00

場　所　：　第三学群F棟　3F1115

講演者　：　土橋　俊寛　[　大東文化大学 経済学部  ]

司会者　：　石川　竜一郎

演　題　：　Using Patents for Promotion

                            ＜ abstract ＞

 A traditional view of patents and patenting shows a trade-off between the benefit of appropria- tion and the cost of information revelation. However, firms may benefit from information revelation to consumers because patents can provide credible information about the firm’s ability to develop new technologies and produce good quality products.
In fact, we frequently observe that many firms use their patents for promotion in a variety of industries, including foods, cosmetics, and electric devices. This paper focuses on the potential value of an informational function of patents, and investigates in what situation a firm benefits from using a patent for promotion. In addition, we discuss a relationship between patents and trademarks from the viewpoint of information rev- elation. We make two major findings. First, if consumers believe that a firm’s ability is low but the firm’s ability is actually high, then the value of the patent for promotion goes up as consumers’ belief strengthens. In other words, the informational function of a patent becomes valuable with the high likelihood of the high ability firm, if the firm has little reputation created from a trade- mark. On the other hand, if consumers believe that a firm’s ability is high and the firm’s ability is actually high, then the value of the promotional patent shrinks as consumers’ belief strengthens. In other words, the informational function of a patent becomes redundant with the high likelihood of a high-ability firm, if the firm has already an excellent reputation. Second, a low-ability firm incurs a loss because the firm is more likely to fail in R&D, and this loss expands as consumers’ belief strengthens.