Prof. Grid Thoma (University of Camerino)

Program

• Date: 29.04.2010
  Time: 12:30 - 13:30
  Location: Room 202, Kaulbachstr. 45, 2nd floor

Institutional Logics and Status - Strategic Patenting in the Legal Service Sector

Organizations engage in deviant behaviors. Recently strategic patent filings have emerged as a tactic for abusing the patent system. This paper brings novel evidence on the role of law firms in strategic patenting. We show that high status law firms are more likely to abuse the patent system, but the effect of status wanes as firms gain more experience within their profession. Moreover, we show that law firms that are more embedded in the logic of the legal profession are less likely to use strategic patenting, whereas law firms embedded in the logics of finance are more likely to adopt a deviant behaviour.