Trademarks are the most widely used intellectual property right by companies worldwide. Their strategic importance is increasing, as reputational assets become more relevant for companies than ever, in national and global markets. Trademarks also represent key tools for companies to profit from innovation and can make the difference for start-ups and entrepreneurial firms by allowing them to gain legitimacy and fostering fund raising from investors.

This book Trademarks and Their Role in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Industrial Organization takes stock of the emerging academic research on how companies use trademarks. It collects a rich set of contributions from several research perspectives and disciplines and proposes an integrated view bridging different levels of analysis: individual, firm, industry, and country level. Specifically, the book combines an industrial organization, innovation, and entrepreneurship perspective to understand why, when and with what effects entrepreneurs, innovators, and firms use trademarks. The book is targeted toward academic readers to gain a better understanding of the emerging and interdisciplinary field of trademark research as well as interested practitioners from the area of intellectual property (IP) management and policy-making.

The chapters in this book were originally published in Industry and Innovation.