Interplay of patents and trademarks as tools in economic competition

Integrated manufacturing-service systems have been receiving attention recently. The phenomenon of services-to-artifacts companies, namely those specializing in intermediate goods and complex equipment, is increasingly instrumental for long-run competitiveness in fast-changing, high-quality global markets. The debate has so far has remained largely qualitative, and the effective role and relevance of services is rather fuzzy. Against this background, this chapter brings in empirical evidence concerning the evolving business models of a variety of leading innovative manufacturing companies. For this purpose, over 50 manufacturing companies listed in the European Union (EU) research & development (R&D) investment scoreboard are analyzed in terms of patents and trademarks. In particular, trademark strategies are studied in greater depth, and they are sub-divided into goods and services marks and into high and low sophistication. Service marks are used as a supplement to patents, as the service component of industrial offerings is not covered by classic indicators of technical change. The economic data from the EU (EU Scoreboard R&D, sales, growth, employees, profits, or investment) are linked to the patent and trademark data in order to see which balance of goods and service capabilities leads to favorable economic results.