cal protection regime is often quite weak, and many patents can be invented around quite easily (Teece 1986). Studies by economists like Mansfield (1984) have shown that nearly two thirds of all patented innovations are imitated legally within four years of their introduction. Resourceful imitators can often have their own versions of the technology on the market before an industry standard or dominant design has emerged. Such imitators are often better at commercialising technologies than the originators, because they have complementary assets, like an established brand name or distribution system, that prove crucial to bringing the technology to the widest possible market, and they are also better at turning the new technology into products with much greater market-appeal. Even in industries where the technological protection regime is quite strong, patient second movers, with better applications skills and a greater commitment to developing the technology, can eventually match or even outperform the originator in reaping the commercial rewards. Canon's success in the copier industry pioneered by Xerox and Microsofts in GUI (graphic user interface) software pioneered by Apple are just two of many such examples.Once a new technology appears on the market the dynamics of technological development and the commercial rules of the game change at industry level (Utterback and Abernathy 1975, Utterback 1994). Speed to the market with product enhancement and process innovations to make the manufacturing system more flexible and efficient become the competitive imperatives. Proficiency in these areas depends more on development engineering capability and organisational factors than on rare scientific or technical insights. The success of many Japanese companies in securing market leadership and the technological initiative in industries like video recorders, photocopiers, quartz timepieces and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) microchips, th...
