Lifting the hood of supply and demand for trademarks of start-ups: Partial observability estimates

This paper estimates simultaneously the supply and the demand determinants of the trademark adoption decision made by start-ups. We use a partial observability econometric model, as non-adoption is unobserved. Estimation is by maximum likelihood using the partial observability bivariate probit (POBP) model for an unbalanced longitudinal panel of surviving US start-ups (2004–2011). Our model is shown to provide a good explanation of supply and demand determinants of trademark adoption. For example, size, incorporation and expenditure on R&D are important on the supply side; and copyrights, licensing out and being in a high knowledge information sector are important on the demand side.