Strategic management of intellectual property in the field of vehicle autonomy and connectivity : A case study in the truck manufacturing field

Sammanfattning: The truck manufacturing field is expected to go through a disruptive change in the coming decade(s) due to a predicted implementation of autonomous (self-driving) heavy-duty vehicles. Here, companies face a challenge in that autonomous vehicles (AV) will include technologies and competences from multiple industries. This will most likely have an impact on how companies manage their intellectual property (IP) to protect their inventions if they wish to keep up with the changing market. To do this in the most optimal way, it is argued that a company’s IP-strategy needs to be incorporated into their business strategy. At the same time, studies show that companies are experiencing difficulties in extracting the full potential of their IP-management. Hence, this master thesis aims at investigating how a truck manufacturing company can adapt their IP-management policy in line with future developments within these emerging technologies and how their IP-strategy can become intertwined with their business strategy. Next to a literature review of these fields, the thesis conducts a qualitative case study of a truck manufacturer that intends to be part of this change based on 11 semi-structured interviews. From the empirical results, the company’s decision-making process regarding IP is identified, whereby this thesis suggests four points of improvement that could make their IP-management policy more effective. Further, this study presents three actions that can be taken in a company to incorporate their IP-strategy with their overall business strategy. The study ends with giving suggestions for future research and presenting six managerial implications that would come by implementing the suggestions made in this thesis.