The strategic use of patents and standards for new product development knowledge transfer

In this article, we develop a theoretical understanding of patenting and standardization strategies and analyze their practical implementation for in- and outbound knowledge transfer in new product development processes. Our case study consists of two original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and one supplier active in the global automotive industry. We consult extensive external and company documents as well as interviews with 13 company experts. Although our theoretical considerations suggest that standardization, patenting and their interrelation can be of considerable importance for knowledge transfer in new product development and innovation processes, this is hardly implemented in practice. The resources devoted to patenting by far outweigh those for the standardization process. Neither of the OEMs have their standardization strategy linked to their new product development processes; only patenting strategies are considered in the new product development processes. The surveyed supplier, however, uses standardization strategically. We further consider how a standardization strategy should relate to the patenting strategy in terms of generating the most beneficial outcome for knowledge transfer. We recommend an integrated standardization strategy that is analogously to the patenting strategy and tied to the new product development process.