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Nest without birds: Inventor mobility and the left-behind patents

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  • Wang, Qinyu Ryan
  • Zheng, Yanfeng

Abstract

The mobility of inventors leaves behind their patented inventions at sourcing firms, yet there is little scholarly insight into how firms handle those intellectual properties. We investigate this important issue by developing a framework of tacit-codified knowledge interdependence. We theorize that tacit and codified knowledge offer the intellectual and legal pillars of corporate inventions, which complement each other in value creation. Inventor mobility decouples the two pillars and reduces the maintenance likelihood of the left-behind patents. The negative impact is greater for inventions that are complex or rely less on internal prior art because the tacit knowledge loss is more destructive and unrecoverable. However, when inventors move to competing or litigious target firms, the relationship between mobility and patent maintenance becomes less negative or even turns positive because the left-behind patents can be leveraged to hedge against the risk of knowledge leakage. Applying a two-stage Coarsened Exact Matching approach to construct a sample of 36,204 U.S. patents with comparable leaving and staying inventors from public firms between 1983 and 2010, we find strong evidence supporting our framework. Our findings highlight the intricate interdependence of tacit and codified knowledge in corporate inventions and add to the literatures on inventor mobility and intellectual property management.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Qinyu Ryan & Zheng, Yanfeng, 2022. "Nest without birds: Inventor mobility and the left-behind patents," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(4).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:51:y:2022:i:4:s0048733322000130
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2022.104485
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    2. Varshney, Mayank & Jain, Amit, 2023. "Understanding “reverse” knowledge flows following inventor exit in the semiconductor industry," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    3. Rathi, Sawan & Majumdar, Adrija & Chatterjee, Chirantan, 2024. "Did the COVID-19 pandemic propel usage of AI in pharmaceutical innovation? New evidence from patenting data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    4. Jiajie Wang & Jing Shi & Yitong Chen & Lele Kang & Jianjun Sun, 2024. "Exploring the impact of inter-organizational knowledge potential difference: an empirical investigation of inventor mobility," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(10), pages 5979-6006, October.
    5. Amit Kumar & Elisa Operti, 2023. "Missed chances and unfulfilled hopes: Why do firms make errors in evaluating technological opportunities?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(13), pages 3067-3097, December.
    6. Tong, Di & Lee, Jeongsik “Jay”, 2024. "Knowledge catalysts: The role of generalist incumbents in post-hiring knowledge integration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).

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