INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AS A DECISION MAKING FACTOR IN CORPORATE STARTUPS ENGAGEMENTS

Abstract

Nowadays, corporations are getting closer to startups. To reduce the risk of a relationship and increase legal certainty, the intellectual property needs to be included into the decision making process. In this way, the Brazilian large corporations associated to ANPEI (National Association of Research and Development of Innovative Companies) were asked if the intellectual property is a relevant factor in its strategies of relationship with startups. For this purpose, an intentional quantitative and qualitative exploratory research was performed using a questionnaire sent to 100% of the companies qualified as respondents (73) by the aforementioned association. A response rate of 26% was obtained (19), being considered as highly satisfactory sample in this type of approach. The results showed that the Brazilian companies interviewed considered "Technology and Innovation", "Alignment between the company and startup" and "Quality and capacity of the startup team" as the most relevant factors for decision making before to establish a relationship. In general, Intellectual Property was characterized as relevant in strategic decisions for a relationship with startup, being cited by 58% of respondent corporations.