Influence of intellectual property rights on innovation capability in new technology-based firms

Innovation marks the future for organisations and affects the length of their existences by asking organisations for capabilities needed to keep their game on the playfield. However, innovation development requires legal conditions to guarantee the fair and appropriate use of its outcomes. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) seek to cover this issue, although it has not the same application in different regions like Latin-America where innovation performs in different, not deeply explored pattern. This study aims to analyse influence of IPRs on innovation capability (IC) in 102 Colombian new technology-based firms (NTBFs) located in business incubators and technology parks. The empirical study had a latent variable design and was analysed through covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM). Results show that IPRs account for 20% of variation in IC (medium influence). Hence, as IPRs promote innovation by safeguarding the benefits of its outcomes, IPRs are important in developing economies such Colombia and particularly for NTBFs.