從美國專利權法訴訟判例看智慧財產權與信用風險的關聯

Abstract

本研究以有發行專利的美國上市公司為樣本，分析對員工智慧財產權保護程度不同的企業受到2008年智慧財產權法相關判例 (DDB Technologies, L.L.C. v. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.) 影響所導致企業違約風險變化程度差異，並進一步分析此關係是否隨著產業差異而加劇或減弱。實證結果發現位原先較保護員工的企業其違約機率於2008年以後顯著下降，顯示這些企業雖然舉債增加、擴大投資，但受惠於研發投入和創新所帶來的正向績效和營運優勢等影響，使違約機率不增反降。企業人才不易帶著專利離開公司也是使違約機率降低的因素，一旦人力資本完善保留公司內，違約機率亦會降低。此外，依照高科技產業與否將公司分成兩群後，實證結果顯示，高科技產業的違約機率下降幅度越顯著。最後，本研究於穩健性分析中替換違約機率衡量指標也得到相似的結果，代表變數之間的關係清楚且穩定。

With a sample of U.S. listed patenting companies, this study analyzes the effect of legal protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs) on credit risk using a plausible exogenous shock of 2008 Federal Circuit Ruling (DDB Technologies, L.L.C. v. MLB Advanced Media, L.P.). The empirical results show that the default rate of firms that used to be more protective of their employees drops significantly after 2008, indicating that despite the increase in debt and investment, enterprises benefit from the positive performance and operational advantages brought about by R&D investment and innovation, which leads to a decrease in the default rate rather than a surge in default rate. The fact that corporate talent is less likely to leave the company with patents is also a factor that reduces the default risk, and once human capital is retained in the company, the default risk will also be reduced. In addition, after dividing the firms into two groups according to whether they are in the high-tech industry or not, the empirical results show that the default rate decreases more significantly in the high-tech industry. Finally, this study obtains similar results by replacing the default rate measure in the robustness analysis, which means that the relationship between the variables is clear and stable.