Which Firms Use Trademarks – And Why? Representative Firm-Level Evidence from Germany

32 Pages Posted: 10 Feb 2015

See all articles by Dirk Crass

Dirk Crass

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research

Date Written: December 15, 2014

Abstract

Trademarking firms are more productive, generate higher profits, and have a better survival rate. Trademarking firms are in one word more successful, which might motivate non-trademarking firms to adopt a trademark strategy. But this seems not to be the case. The proportion of trademarking firms in the German business sector amounts to just 18%. This figure is quite low, given that nearly each firm has reputation to protect. But why has the vast majority of firms no registered trademarks? Using a representative sample of German firms, the present paper links certain firm characteristics to a firms' propensity to register trademarks. The empirical results point to circumstances under which trademarks are significantly more often used: this is the case where a large distance between a firm and its customers exists, a firm's product quality is difficult to assess, a firm's products are characterized by a limited (but not strong) substitutability, and where a firm is engaged in R&D and introduces innovative products. Trademarks are considerably less frequently used if none of this is the case.

Keywords: Intellectual Property Rights, Trademarks, Reputation, Innovation

JEL Classification: C25, D21, L14 O34

Suggested Citation

Crass, Dirk, Which Firms Use Trademarks – And Why? Representative Firm-Level Evidence from Germany (December 15, 2014). ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 14-118, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2562298 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2562298

Dirk Crass (Contact Author)

ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1
D-68034 Mannheim, 68034
Germany

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