We exploit the staggered state-level enactment of the Uniform Trade Secret Act (UTSA) to examine the impact of intellectual property (IP) protection on product market dynamics. We find that UTSA-impacted firms shift their IP strategy to rely more on trade secrets and less on patents. Less IP disclosure increases information asymmetry and rival firms must adapt their competitive strategies as espionage and reverse engineering become more costly. Predation risk increases, and rivals engage in more intense price and non-price competition. Additionally, we find the probability of being acquired increases post-UTSA as rivals seek to acquire innovation, resulting in more concentrated product markets. Further, we find that the stock market generally views UTSA favorably.

我们利用国家级交错颁布的《统一商业秘密法》(UTSA) 来研究知识产权 (IP) 保护对产品市场动态的影响。我们发现，受 UTSA 影响的公司将其知识产权战略转变为更多地依赖商业秘密，而不是专利。知识产权披露的减少会增加信息不对称，随着间谍活动和逆向工程的成本变得更高，竞争对手公司必须调整其竞争策略。掠夺风险增加，竞争对手进行更激烈的价格和非价格竞争。此外，我们发现，UTSA 后，随着竞争对手寻求创新，被收购的可能性增加，从而导致产品市场更加集中。此外，我们发现股市普遍看好 UTSA。