A CASE STUDY FOR THE FUBON GROUP–THE GROUP'S TOPOLOGY AND PATENT ACTIVITY IN THE DIGITAL CONVERGENCE ERA

Relying on empirical inquiries, this study investigated the topology and patent activities of the Fubon Group to explore the role of patents in a telecommunications group in the digital convergence era. Through acquisitions, the Fubon Group has expanded its business from mobile into cable networks, a dominion that includes the terminal, transmission, platform, and content segments in the converged media environment. In the Fubon Group, only Taiwan Mobile possesses patents which are mainly related to application systems of communication network, and there is a noticeable number of e-commerce patents. The patent activities of the Fubon Group are in the emerging stage. Patents seem to play only a minimal role in the development and implementation of digital convergence strategies. The establishment of a management system of patents is recommended since the telecommunications group is exposed to a higher risk of infringement from different fields because digital convergence has blurred industrial boundaries.