Pascal Corbel published his book chapter “Structuring the Law & Management Approaches – The Case of Patent Strategic Management,” in A. Masson, H. Boutinon-Dumas, J.M. Do Carmo Silva & W.G. Voss, The Oxford Handbook of Law & Management, Oxford University Press, 2026, pp.554-567.
Abstract: In this chapter, we show that the literature in Law and Management has integrated the complexity of patents viewed as strategic tools on a step-by-step basis. Initially, patents were studied as isolated legal tools mainly aimed at protecting an innovation from imitation. Since then, the multiplicity of the patent functions has been progressively highlighted. A second step has been to consider the interactions of patents with other assets of the firm in order to better perform these multiple functions. Finally, the so-called “appropriability regime” (Teece, 1986) has left its status as an exogenous variable to become something that firms can influence a resource that firms can mobilize strategically.
Of course, in reality, these successive steps overlap and studies focusing on the efficacy of the patent as a tool to prevent imitation are still carried out. Moreover, scholars generally only analyze one specific characteristic of patents. As a result, there still lacks a global framework integrating each of the various dimensions. We propose a step in that direction. Our framework builds on the Resource-Based View of the firm and, more precisely, on the articulation between legal and non-legal resources, specific competences, and global (dynamic) capabilities. We also draw on strands of research that indicate that such an integrative approach sheds light on the need for a combined approach of Law & Management in order to reap all its potential benefits.