Preserving legacy, enhancing innovation: Intellectual property strategies of Austrian family businesses

Preserving legacy, enhancing innovation: Intellectual property strategies of Austrian family businesses

Journal article

1 volume.

Following longer standing evidence that family businesses innovate differently than non-family firms, we investigate why and how family businesses may manage Intellectual Property (IP) in specific ways. We employ a qualitative research approach interviewing managers from nine family businesses as well as three external IP experts. Drawing on the perspective of socio-emotional wealth (SEW) theory as an interpretive lens, we find evidence that the long-term orientation of family businesses – which seek to preserve the firm for future generations – entails that IP protection is often seen as an investment in future competitiveness and sustainability for the next generation. For such family businesses, IP management is not just a defensive mechanism, but a strategic tool that supports specifically long-term growth, ensures sustainability, and safeguards the family's heritage across generations. Owning families of these firms and their values imprint IP management practices. The specific characteristics of these family firms may result in more cautious and long-term innovation and IP use, the optimization of products and processes as well as a high priority of quality, reflecting the high relevance of reputational concerns as well as close binding ties with stakeholders. These close relationships also extend to the employees who play a pivotal role in IP management.

Crossref

World Patent Information ; 86, September, 2026

World Patent Information

Oxford [England] : Elsevier Ltd., 2026.

English

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0172219023000108

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