Antecedents and consequences of strategic patenting for legitimacy: Evidence from China

This article provides an overview of strategic patenting for legitimacy. Using the act of prior patent publication as the proxy variable, it empirically examines the antecedents and consequences of firms' choice of strategic patenting for legitimacy in an integrated framework. Based on Chinese industrial enterprises and a patent database, the results suggest that firms with liabilities of newness, smallness, or privateness are more likely to patent strategically for legitimacy. Meanwhile, the interactions of these characteristics positively impact the ratio of firm to patent strategically for legitimacy. Furthermore, the results also suggest that such strategic patents increase the probability of firms obtaining government sponsorships, high-tech certifications, and venture capital investments rather than enhancing their new product sales. The findings contribute to the literature on patent strategy and firm innovation.