Systemic technology innovation management and analysis of other forms of IP protection

Abstract

Industry 4.0 and the pandemic have caused recent changes in innovative development, economic situations, and restrictions in various companies and regions of the world, with new stricter legislation related to working conditions, hygiene standards, and health requirements. New technologies are a challenge to the transformation of problem companies and regions, as they often significantly impact economic development. Technological emissions, growing information on dementia among young people, cyber risks, and the risks of so-called advanced technologies (e.g., bio- and nanotechnologies, Industry 4.0 tech) may raise societal concerns about technological progress. This study is part of our long-term research into technological innovation in different companies and regions. Its primary goal is to methodically emphasize the importance and role of the systemic management of technological innovation in companies and regions and analytically compare the innovation success of differently developed regions from a global perspective11A systemic approach heralded a turning point in the history of science and technology and its applications in many innovations. This approach, which considers phenomena and problems to be systems, did not really differ from the classical analytical approach until the mid-twentieth century, but its origins are much older (Garbolino et al., 2018). The systemic approach, as it is currently called, can also be applied appropriately in technology innovation management, in order to analyze more comprehensively, plan, develop, test, implement, and commercialize technological innovations. General Systems Theory, developed by von Bertalanffy (1969), incorporates these ideas. It focuses on a more comprehensive understanding of the complexity of innovative activities and their longer-term effects without oversimplifying reality. The systemic approach in this study assumes the study of innovation processes as a system. Micro, mezzo, and macro factors can influence this system. If we want to improve the innovation performance of regions and companies, it is necessary to support not only individual institutions, but also mezzo and macro processes in a given economy; otherwise, it is not possible to expect synergistic results.. This research deals with an important aspect of technology management, namely, the processes of technological identification and the protection of related intellectual property (IP). The primary research question is: How has technological development been distributed across different regions over the last two decades? We hypothesize that Asian countries are increasingly moving away from Europe and North America in terms of technological innovation, other forms of technological IP protection, and overall access to innovation, while the focus is on the development of three non-patent forms of technological innovation protection: industrial designs, trademarks, and utility models. The results of our study reveal a significant difference in the approach to technological innovation management and the form of IP protection between so-called advanced and problem companies and regions. This study was conducted between 2018 and 2022.