IP, an interesting phenomenon the relevance of patents for the design-led start-up business

In their book, `The Smart Entrepreneur´, Clarysse, Kiefer explain how the lack of complimentary assets can hinder an entrepreneur´s market entry, and how “bottlenecks” in the value chain can be by-passed through focusing on niche markets [1]. Here Clarysse, Kiefer expand on Teece´s understanding of complimentary assets, which are thought of as the `additional resources and capabilities needed to bring a technology product to market´ [1]. Back in 1986 Teece analysed how these assets can increase or limit a company´s chance to succeed in the industry. David Teece has further defined appropriability as `the environmental factors... that govern an innovator´s ability to capture the profits generated by an innovation.´ [19] He refers to IP as one of the most important factors in relation to appropriability. This paper discusses the question to what extent access to exclusive IP in form of patents may strengthen a company´s appropriability regime and thus compensate for the absence of various complimentary assets. Semi-structured interviews with business-minded design-inventors have revealed that designer-entrepreneurs commonly perceive patents and other exclusive IP as a necessary prerequisite for succeeding with their design business development. At the same time the interviewees have frequently expressed concerns about the costs involved in registering IP, and about the fact that their chances of successfully defending their patents in court may be limited due to the lack of available funds. This paper introduces an assessment chart that has been designed to map out key criteria that ought to be at the focus of attention of design-led start-up businesses. It will explain how the use of the chart can help to measure a businesses strengths and weaknesses with regards to individual assessment criteria, and how the results of the assessment can inform the designer-entrepreneur to what degree filing a patent may or may not be advisable.