Abstract
Increasingly, in many industries, companies commercialize their technology and innovations through patenting to gain an edge over competition. Within the maritime sector, while literature on innovation is expanding, issues related to the importance of intangible assets, such as patenting, for the participant firms of the industry remain unaddressed. Utilizing innovational frameworks and patent data withdrawn from European Patent Organization’s (EPO’s) database, the aim of this paper is to investigate the innovative level, in terms of patents granted, of incumbent market actors in liner shipping. Apart from patent counts, this exercise sheds light on the areas to which these patents apply, providing a classification while also investigating additional attributes which relate to patent citations, investors and applicants. Although results indicate a varying degree of utilization of the patenting system amongst liner carriers, they nonetheless affirm to some extent that knowledge creation is a valuable tool in the arsenal of some liner carriers, and that patenting is one of the various means utilized to enhance their market position and achieve a sustained competitive advantage. In addition, findings suggest that liner carriers’ innovative efforts have, based on the forward citations received, some significance, while they focus primarily the development of patented technologies which enhance the operational efficiency of their vessels. In this respect, the investigation undertaken sheds some light and provides a novel perspective on understanding the behaviour and innovative propensity of liner shipping companies.
Highlights
Increasing economic integration and interdependence amongst the world’s national economies has materialized in a remarkable growth of international trade
As the liner shipping industry exhibits an increased degree of concentration achieved through organic growth and consecutive merger and acquisition waves as well as high levels of interorganizational relationships through the establishment of strategic alliances, our aim is to investigate whether the incumbent firms in the liner shipping market display increased levels of innovative activity
This study, as outlined in the methodology section above, reviewed the patents granted to the 10 largest liner shipping companies operating in the containerized segments of liner shipping over the 2008–2020 period
Summary
Increasing economic integration and interdependence amongst the world’s national economies has materialized in a remarkable growth of international trade. In the context of globalization and of dispersed production and consumption, modern maritime transport is the backbone of international trade, as well as a key contributing factor in the economic growth and development of countries around the globe. Notwithstanding its positive links to the economy, nations’ ever-increasing reliance on maritime transport and a fortiori upon liner shipping, to carry out the transport of massive commodity flows over longer and more complex supply chains, renders them more vulnerable to potential disruptions. This issue has become increasingly apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Disruption occurrences in liner shipping operations affect schedule reliability and may increase the total cost of delivering cargoes at ports, and may result in substantial monetary losses for liner shipping companies if not properly
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
