Research Experience

Google Scholar: Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi

| Peer-Reviewed Research Paper|

*Bold characters indicate that I am a corresponding (or equivalent) author.

1. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Miyanoshita, T., Kanama, D. (forthcoming), "Revisiting incremental product innovations in the food manufacturing industry: An empirical study on the effect of intellectual property rights," Journal of Economic Structures. (Accepted)
2. Miyanoshita, T., Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Kanama, D. (2020), "Profiting from (not too many) package designs: evidence from a firm level design registration analysis in the food manufacturing industry," British Food Journal, 122(7), 2233-2251.
3. Hu, W., Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Watanabe, T. (2020), "Determinants of patent infringement awards in the US, Japan, and China: A comparative analysis, " World Patent Information, 60. doi: 10.1016/j.wpi.2019.101947
   • Patent litigations are essential measures to maximize returns from research and development. Although major countries have promoted pro-patent policies, there are significant differences in patent infringement awards among jurisdictions. This article comparatively analyzes determinants of patent infringement awards in the US, Japan, and China using 880 court decisions between 2000 and 2014. We find that Japan's judges attach more weight to a litigated patent's technological importance, whereas judges in the US and China prioritize its private economic value. Besides, damages ruled by US juries are almost unpredictable, while judges provide the most predictable decisions. We also find that the jury system can explain both the variation in the US patent infringement awards and the difference with awards in Japan, but the treble damage system can only explain the former. These results provide novel empirical evidence for public policy debates on patent protection and practical insights for intellectual property professionals.
4. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2019), "Institutional factors for academic entrepreneurship in publicly-owned universities: The case of a transition from a conservative anti-industry university collaboration culture to a leading entrepreneurial university," Science, Technology and Society, 24(3), 423-445. doi: 10.1177/0971721819873180
   • The establishment of university spin-offs differs across schools as a result of the interactions among different intuitional settings. This study examines the role of institutional factors in the context of state-controlled universities, which are the majority in East Asia, but have not been the focus of the existing literature. The University of Tokyo experienced a significant shift from an anti-industry university collaboration culture to a leading entrepreneurial university in the mid-2000s. This study proposes a chronological investigation of the policies and culture of this state-owned top research university and addresses its significant efforts to create an entrepreneurial environment. First, despite the regulatory constraints, the university has established an incubator and early-stage investment resource, benefiting from prior experimental experiences in an independent research centre. Second, it opened a special non-degree entrepreneurship education programme for students and postdoctoral researchers. These facts show the importance of an organisational initiative even in a state-controlled context. Regarding the reasons why such changes did not cause internal cultural conflict, our case studies suggest that the academic and commercial bicultural system introduced by the University of Tokyo balanced the fulfilment of traditional academic roles with the drive for innovation.
5. Akiike, A., Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Katsumata, S. (2019). "The dilemma of design innovation: Analysis of mobile phone’s design patent." Annals of Business Administrative Science, 18(6), 209-222 . https://doi.org/10.7880/abas.0190908a
   • Eisenman (2013) argues that the importance of design innovation increases in the early and late stages of an industry and is lowest in the middle stage. In response, this study empirically examines her proposition through an examination of mobile phones during the feature phone era (1999–2008) when various types of designs were being generated using design patent data. We analyze the number of mobile phone design patents registered before the current advent of smart phones as well as examining the yearly averages of forward citations (the number of times a particular design patent is cited in later design patents) and backward citations (the number of times a particular design patent cites previous design patents). Further, to shed light on interactions with an accumulation of design-related technology, the study also analyzes the number of design-related patent applications per year. Results reveal that while there was an increase in the number of design patents registered in the late stage of the industry, especially between the years of 2007–2008, the average number of forward citations drops below the average number of backward citations from 2003 onward. In other words, although at the late stages of the industry many design innovations emerged, most of these were incremental changes that followed past designs. In contrast, design-related patent applications reached a peak in 2004 and fell thereafter. It is hypothesized that this trend was influenced by the growing number of design-related patents that facilitated the easy generation of new variations in design. These results show the dilemma: Although design innovations continue to be generated over time by accumulating design-related technology, creating genuinely impactful design innovation becomes more difficult as time progresses. The study therefore demonstrates the difficulty of realizing Eisenman (2013)’s theoretical proposition.
6. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Fujimoto, T., Akiike, A. (2018), "The validity of industrial design registrations and design patents as a measurement of "good" product design: A comparative empirical analysis, " World Patent Information, 53, 14-23. doi:10.1016/j.wpi.2018.04.001
   • This paper examines the validity of industrial design registrations and design patents as measurements of design innovations. Industrial design rights are potentially a good data source to analyze product design development activity; however, it is unclear whether they correspond to valuable product designs. Furthermore, significant gaps in legal protection for industrial design among jurisdictions raise a question about their validity. This paper surveyed intellectual property right protections of 150 products, which were global design award winners in five major regions. Our study opens new research directions to investigate managerial issues in product design development from an individual, organizational, and product perspectives.
7. Hu, W., T. Yoshioka-Kobayashi and T. Watanabe (2017), "Impact of patent litigation on the subsequent patenting behavior of the plaintiff small and medium enterprises in Japan,"  International Review of Law and Economics, 51, 23-28.
   • This paper examines the impact of patent litigation on the subsequent patenting behavior of the plaintiff small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Japan. The results show that plaintiff SMEs tend to reduce patent applications after patent litigation. Although there are several possible interpretations for this finding, we argue that it is most likely due to the negative effects of the high cost of patent litigation on the R&D activities of the plaintiff SMEs during the period of patent litigation. Moreover, we also find that the strength of patent rights applied for by the plaintiff SMEs after patent litigation increases. We argue that this is because the plaintiff SMEs realize the importance of the quality of patent rights and learn how to apply for stronger patent rights after experiencing patent litigation as plaintiffs. However, this learning effect only lasts until the fourth year after litigation and then disappears or starts to reverse beginning with the fifth year after litigation.
8. Akiike, A., and T. Yoshioka-Kobayashi (2017), "The power of existing design for establishing the dominant 'industrial' design," Annals of Business Administrative Science, 16, 189-202.
   • Digital cameras were initially developed as video memo devices and televisions with cameras and had appearances and designs that differed from film-based cameras. However, improvements in pixel number led to them becoming replacements for film-based cameras. Radical innovations, such as the function of optical zoom and image stabilization that were required to take quality photographs, were then developed. At the same time, digital cameras took on the appearance of film-based cameras, leading to frame that they could replace film-based cameras for consumers. In this manner, though film-based cameras came to be replaced by digital cameras, the appearance of film-based cameras became their dominant “industrial” design.

| Book Chapter |

1. Modic, D., & Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2020).  Individual-level determinants of academic patent licensing to start-ups: impacts of principal investigators’ embeddedness in the industry. Research Handbook on Start-Up Incubation Ecosystems (pp.349-365). Edward Elgar, Cheltenham: U.K.
   • Can academic technology transfers to existing firms substitute transfers to start-ups? From knowledge perspective, licensing experiences stimulates licensing to start-ups. However, from personal social network context, some types of technology transfer experiences constitute constraints. Past literature investigated mainly organizational capability perspectives and did not fully examine these contradicting personal factors. This chapter provides empirical evidence of moderating effects of licensing activities to existing firms on licensing to start-ups from principal investigators (PIs) point of view. The regression analysis of our dataset, covering 809 licensing and re-assignment agreements in two Japanese research-intensive public universities, revealed that PIs’ past licensing experiences is positively associated with the licensing intensity to start-ups, while there is indication licensing to existing large firms decreases their motivation to transfer technologies to start-ups. We also see negative influence of joint applications with large firms as well as with start-ups. Results imply that PIs learn technology commercialization from licensees, but are, at the same time, embedded in social constraints. Our investigation demonstrates interactions between university-industry transfer channels. 
2. Bharadwaj, A., & Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2018). Regulating Standard Essential Patents in Implementer-Oriented Countries: Insights from India and Japan. In Multi-dimensional Approaches Towards New Technology (pp. 183-207). Springer, Singapore. 
   • This chapter argues regulations governing standard essential patents (SEPs) in the setting of implementer-oriented countries. In those countries, where few firms have volumes of SEPs, and a majority of firms received licenses, policies inevitably tend to seek weaker regime of SEPs. However, recent public policy struggles in India and Japan illustrate the difficulty of their fair and effective regulation. The authors investigated their recent experiences on SEP regulations to provide implications on public policies concerning the SEP issues. India, showing the constantly evolving SEP jurisprudence, published two consultation papers from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in 2016 and 2017. These documents stated the need for an appropriate measure to decide the injunction and reasonable royalty rate by referring several case laws and in-depth analysis of cases. They also proposed an introduction of an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system. But no specific policy action has taken. By contrast, Japan, in which very few cases are disputed in their courts, attempted to introduce an ADR in 2017. Japanese government emphasized the complexity of SEP issues in the future industrial context and the rationality of the system for the fair competition between global SEP holders and small and medium entities. But they came under fierce criticism as the system potentially works as an implementer of compulsory licenses. By introducing the new ADR, Japanese government published a detailed report on major issues in this field. These experiences imply that even in implementer-oriented countries they should develop capacities of court judges and national competition agencies to provide fair and reasonable decisions and try to resolve information asymmetry as Japanese governments did. This Chapter attempts to explain the details of amendments to the IEEE IPR policy and analyse their impact on the incentives for innovation and dissemination of innovation in essential technologies that are enabled by a well-functioning SSO.

| Discussion Paper/Working Paper(Non-Peer-Reviewed) |

1. Aminaka, H, & Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2020). "Determinants of Donations to a Scientific Research:An experimental study of motivations for crowdfunding in Japan," Hitotsubashi University IIR Working Paper WP#20-09.
   • This paper is a translated version of Japanese peer-reviewed article published in The Journal of Science Policy and Research Management.
2. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. and T. Watanabe (2014), "Industrial Designers as a Driver of Technology Innovation: Evidence from a Japanese electronics industry," IAM Discussion Paper Series #034, Intellectual Asset-Based Management Endorsed Chair, The University of Tokyo,  http://pari.u-tokyo.ac.jp/unit/iam/outcomes/pdf/papers_140602.pdf 

| Full Paper Proceedings of International Conference & Seminar Presentations (Peer-Reviewed) |

1. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., and T. Watanabe (2016) "An alternative resource for technology innovation: Do industrial designers create superior invention?"  Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology, PICMET 2015 (Honolulu, USA, 4-8 Sep. 2016). [Peer-reviewed]
2. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2016) "Cross-functional collaboration versus a single functional team in industrial design development: A technology management perspective," The 25th International Conference for Management of Technology, IAMOT 2016 (Orland, USA, 15-19 May, 2016). [Peer-reviewed]
3. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., and T. Watanabe (2015) "Linking Product Design and Technology: An Empirical Study on Performance and Experience in Novel Product Development Teams" Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology, PICMET 2015 (Portland, USA, 2-6 Aug. 2015). [Peer-reviewed]
4. Kobayashi, T., and T. Watanabe. (2013) “Industrial Designers as a Driver of Technology Innovation: an evidence from a Japanese electronics industry,” International Society for Professional Innovation Management, The 6th ISPIM Innovation Symposium – Innovation in the Asian Century, (Melbourne, Australia, 9-11 Dec. 2013) [Peer-reviewed]
   *Received Best Paper Award on Practical Implications for Technology from Nokia-Siemens Networks.

| International Conference & Seminar Presentations (without full paper proceedings) |

1. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Kataoka, J., Akiike, A., (2019). Measuring design trends using design rights: A citation analysis approach to identify influential product categories in design development. 4D Conference (International Conference on Meanings of Design in the Next Era) (Organized by Ritsumeikan University), October, 21-23, 2019, Osaka International Conference Center, Osaka: Japan.
2. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2019). Designerly thinking and technology innovation: A black box in innovation. Asia Pacific Innovation Conference 2019, October, 10-11, 2019, Peking University, Beijing: P. R. China.
3. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Takahashi, M. (2019). Examining public perception of the university-industry collaboration research by a split-run test: Pitfalls in academic technology transfer policy. Technology Transfer Society, The 2019 Technology Transfer Society Annual Conference, September, 26-28, 2019, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario: Canada. 
4. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Dolores, M., Luzar, B. (2019). "Evolving Groups in Networks of Academic Technology Transfer," The Future of Conducting and Publishing Research in Entrepreneurship, Innovation Management & Strategy, 22-24 May, 2019, Bologna Business School, Bologna: Italy.
5. Dolores, M., Luzar, B., Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2018). "Networks in academic technology transfer - from patenting to licensing:  the case of two Japanese universities," Technology Transfer Society, T2S 2018, October, 17-19, 2018, Polytechnic of Valencia, Valencia: Spain. 
6. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Takahashi, M. (2018). "Follow me or follow you? Determinants of contract renewals of the university-industry joint research," Technology Transfer Society, T2S 2018, October, 17-19, 2018, Valencia: Spain. 
7. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2018). "Network position of SEPs and bargaining power: An strategic aspect of SEP declarations," Strategic Management Society, 2018 SMS Annual Conference, September, 25, 2018, Paris: France.
8. Shiu, J.M., Yasumoto, M., Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Chen, T.Y., Wang, S., Huang, C.W., (2018). "The architectural control over the opened product-system under the standardization," Academy of Management, 2018 AOM Annual Meeting, August 12, 2018, Swissotel Chicago: Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
9. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., T. Fujimoto, and A. Akiike (2017) "Design awards and global industrial design protections: Do industrial design registrations correspond to design award-winning products and complement other non-awarded products?" European Policy for Intellectual Property 12th Annual Conference, 5, Sep. 2017 (University of Bordaux: Bordaux, Italy)
10. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2017). "Education, Incubation, and Investment: Institutional Factors of Academic Entrepreneurship -- From a Case Study on The University of Tokyo," University-Industry Collaborations and Academic Entrepreneurship: East meets West, 5, Jun. 2017 (Bologna Business School: Bologna, Italy).
11. Asahara, D., Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Noma, M. (2016). "Does Frequency of Financial Disclosures Affect Innovation?" Asia Pacific Innovation Network, The 7th Asia-Pacific Innovation Conference, 20 Nov. 2016. (Kyushu University: Hakata, Japan) [Contributed in dataset construction]
12. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., and T. Watanabe (2016). "Technology absorption through research consortia and the myth of horizontal cooperation in national research project," Asia Pacific Innovation Network, The 7th Asia-Pacific Innovation Conference, 18 Nov. 2016. (Kyushu University: Hakata, Japan)
13. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., and T. Watanabe (2016) "An alternative human resource for technology innovation: Do industrial designers create superior invention?" Aalto University, Open Seminar, Factors impacting the diffusion of disruptive digital ecosystems, 16 Aug. 2016 (Aalto University: Espoo, Finland).
    • Reported a topic presented in PICMET2016, minor modification included.
14. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2016) "A conceptual model for ‘sustainable’ university-industry collaboration and its evaluation indicators: From a comparative study and system engineering approach," Kyusyu University, International Workshop on University-Industry Linkages and Innovation, 18 Feb. 2016.
15. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., and T. Watanabe (2015) "Linking Product Design and Technology: An Empirical Study on Performance and Experience in Novel Product Development Teams" Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology, PICMET 2015 (Portland, USA, 2-6 Aug. 2015). [Peer-reviewed]
16. Kobayashi, T., and T. Watanabe. (2013) “Industrial Designers as a Driver of Technology Innovation: an evidence from a Japanese electronics industry,” International Society for Professional Innovation Management, The 6th ISPIM Innovation Symposium – Innovation in the Asian Century, (Melbourne, Australia, 9-11 Dec. 2013) [Peer-reviewed]
    *Received Best Paper Award on Practical Implications for Technology from Nokia-Siemens Networks.
    
17. Kobayashi, T. (2012) ” The Status of International Patent Property Construction of Multinational Enterprise,” East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai Forum on International Technology Transfer and Sustainable Development, 26 Oct. 2012.

| Essays |

1. Kamei, Sin-ichi. and Tohru Kobayashi (2012) "Strategy for the New Industry Creation in the Nanotechnology Field," Techmonitor Oct-Nov 2012.

1. Aminaka, Hirokazu, and Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi (forthcoming). Determinants of donations to a scientific research: An experimental study on motivations for crowdfunding in Japan. Kenkyu Gijutsu Keikaku (The Journal of Science Policy and Research Management). (Accepted)
2. Akiike, Atsushi., and Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi (2018). Industrial design management within technological change: The case of digital camera. Akamon Management Review, 17(4), 159-178.
   • This paper investigates an industrial design activity after a radical technological change through the case study of Fuji Film's “FinePix700”. We reveal that such a technological change might make it difficult to maintain a popular industrial design even though these existing designs still had superiority. We also discovered that firms can create the qualified product with high technology and new industrial design together by co-existing novelty of appearances and rationality from the functional perspective. This paper contributes to both consumer behavior study and technology management study by suggesting an effective relationship between technology and design.
3. Takahashi, Makiko, and Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi (2016) "Understanding URAs in Japan: A conceptual framework for unified comprehension to diversified roles of URAs," Kenkyu Gijutsu Keikaku (The Journal of Science Policy and Research Management), 31(2): 223-235(In Japanese). 
   • This paper overviews today’s status of university research administrators (URAs) in Japan and provides a conceptual framework of their roles to promote a comprehension of diversity of URAs. Firstly, we investigated multifarious backgrounds of demands for URAs. Secondly, we confirmed diversified roles of current URAs from a review of a nation-wide questionnaire inquiry and an original survey of recruit documents. These examinations reveal such diversity follows organizational demands and major universities request URAs to be multifunctional professionals. To this end, we provided a model of acquisition and utilization of research resources and illustrated relationship between the model and functions of URAs. Our framework will aid to understand the difference of their functions among universities and to design appropriate mandates of URAs.
4. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, Tohru and Toshiya Watanabe (2016）"Do forward citations indicate design right value? An explorative study," Journal of Intellectual Property Association of Japan, 12(3): 72-95(In Japanese). 
5. Akiike, Atsushi, and Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi (2015), "Creating excellent industrial designs by multidisciplinary engineers and industrial designers: An empirical study on Japanese digital camera manufacturers," Hitotsubashi Business Review 64(2): 64-79(In Japanese). 

| Thesis & working paper (non-reviewed) |

1. Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T. (2017) An outbound-inbound technology innovation: A preliminary empirical study of the effects of knowledge spillovers on originating firms. Journal of Intellectual Property Association of Japan, 14(1): 25-42(In Japanese). 
• This paper empirically examines a part of benefits of technology outbound, i.e. technological returns to those firms, which revealed, licensed, or simply spilled over their technologies. We regard that citations of patents with certain time-lags represent knowledge flows between two parties. Using patent applications from national research consortia, we analyzed 913 backward citation and forward citation pairs which share the same applicant. Our quantitative test illustrates the positive effect of technological knowledge spillovers and subsequent absorption of the focal technology. Back-flowed inventions show the significantly high technological value; however, this effect is only observed among outbound & inbound from and to third parties of research consortia. In other words, knowledge spillovers to non-alliance partners are valuable as long as original technology holder can learn from out-flowed technologies. Focusing on technological returns of technology outbound, we lead future research questions.
2. Hara, Y., Yoshioka-Kobayashi, T., Ashizawa, Y. (2017) Measuring design innovations by design awards: An overview of Good Design Award(Japan) database. Hitotsubashi University IIR Working Paper WP#17-05(In Japanese).
• Although product designs consist an important part of innovations, we have long left uninvestigated them due to the limitation of available measurements other than consumer surveys or peer evaluations, which are costly and sometimes inconsistent data sources. Recent studies mention the usability of industrial design registrations as a data source of industrial design innovations; however, they also lead important limitations, that is highly skewed registration intensities. In contrast, Good Design Award, nominated by Japan Industrial Design Association, which has more than half century history, overcomes the limitation. Some award winning products are nominated by juries. In addition, their objectivity and accumulated more than 40,000 winning products realize several novel research on industrial design innovation. This paper overviews Good Design Award Database, disclosed recently, and describe future research questions, which the database opens.
3. Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi and Toshiya Watanabe (2014b), "Technology Exploration Beyond Organizational Borders and Absorption of its Outcomes: An Empirical Study on Government Funded Research Consortia," IAM Discussion Paper Series #037, Intellectual Asset-Based Management Endorsed Chair, The University of Tokyo,  http://pari.u-tokyo.ac.jp/unit/iam/outcomes/pdf/papers_140828.pdf (In Japanese)
4. Segawa, Yushi., Tohru Kobayashi and Toshiya Watanabe (2010)"'License of Right' of Patents in Germany and U.K.: How often right holders declare?," Todai Policy Alternative Institute Working Paper Series No.2. [in Japanese]
5. Kobayashi, Tohru, Yushi Segawa and Toshiya Watanabe (2009) "Did Japanese Intellectual Property High Court Relax Their Obviousness Test?: Survey on winning rate in lawsuit against patent trial decision from 2006-2008 in Japan.", Todai Policy Alternative Institute Working Paper Series No.1(2009). [in Japanese]

| Ph.D dissertation | 

• Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi(2015) Positive Interactions of Collaborations Between Technology Development and Industrial Design Development: An Empirical Study on Japanese Home Electronics Appliance Industry. Department of Technology Management for Innovation, the University of Tokyo.(In Japanese)