Measuring the Immeasurable

Additi- ally, empirical results and management expertise indicate that knowledge creation and accumulation through research and development expenditures are important drivers of business success. Patent rights count among the most important resources in modern economies and can be a major driver of a firm’s performance. The efficient management of these key resources, however, requires understanding their inherent value potential. The complex nature of patent rights usually challenges traditional approaches to value. Christian Grube analyses the value potential of patent protection of knowledge-based competitive advantages. He extends existing research on the knowledge-based view of the firm and reviews approaches and methods to value national and international patent rights. The author complements his theoretical research by empirical analyses on the value of licensing agreements and on the adequacy of bibliographic patent data for patent valuation. His findings show that complex licensing contracts represent a profitable strategy to exploit the value of patented inventions and that bibliographic patent data can support the valuation of complex patent portfolios.