Empirical studies show that only a small number of all innovations created are valuable innovations. In spite of this, most innovation research focuses on identifying the determinants of innovation, rather than determining the factors influential in generating valuable innovations. The current...

This paper documents the strong growth in tools used by firms to protect their intellectual property (IP), develop their know-how, and build and maintain their reputation globally during the last decades. We focus on three tools: patents, trademarks, and industrial designs. We find that,...