摘要：In spite of being a rather recent, emerging area, nanotechnology has seen a flurry of investment in both developed and developing countries. However, protection of innovation from competitors has been an area of concern and important aspect that should be included as a part of strategic plan in companies. In this study, a model is proposed for strategic protection of IP in nanotechnology companies. Accordingly, as a first step, necessary criteria along with factors affecting existing innovation preserving systems are identified and classified .The identified indices are grouped into three classes comprising organizational, environmental and innovation characteristics. A qualitative study on various businesses carried out by nanotechnology companies in Iran allowed prioritization of those indices which are effective. A decision making matrix is proposed by the authors based on two indices, namely, size of company or financial power and organizational learning capacities. An examination of the innovation preservation practices in 45 existing companies in the area of nanotechnology protection in Iran revealed that of all the proposed mechanisms of protecting innovation, only patent protection is made use of and that too to a limited extent. An evaluation of the proposed model is also carried out by studying the companies themselves.
