Promoting corporate independent innovation through judicial protection of intellectual property rights

This study examines the impact of judicial protection of intellectual property rights on firms' independent innovation. Using a staggered difference-in-differences model with panel data from Chinese manufacturing listed businesses (2014–2021) and the successive establishment of intellectual property courts in Chinese prefectural-level cities as a quasi-natural experiment, we find that establishing intellectual property courts in China encourages businesses to accumulate more technology-based intangible assets. Mechanism analysis suggests that judicial intellectual property protection enhances enterprises' independent innovation capacity by establishing a conducive institutional framework. This stimulating effect is particularly significant for industry-leading companies with technological supremacy. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that judicial intellectual property protection increases the generation of patents and trade secrets, with a more pronounced effect on firms receiving higher government research and development subsidies and better tax incentives. This study offers valuable insights for policymakers to encourage corporate independent innovation.