Abstract: Since Intellectual Property Right(IPR) protection is vital for the innovative activities of enterprises, the relationship between IPR protection policy and technological innovation is analyzed by constructing two theoretical models from the perspective of technical structure variables. The economic models indicate that stricter IPR protection will have different effects among industries with diverse technological structures in developing countries. To be specific, tightening IPR protection stimulates more innovation of technological- leading firms in developing countries in the context of larger technological gap from developed countries. However, in the context of smaller technological gap from outside, stricter IPR protection will have different impacts on the innovation, that is, stricter IPR protection enhances the innovation of neck-and-neck firms, however, hampers the innovation of the lagged firms. Therefore, distinguishing the different structure of each industry which includes the technological gap with developed countries and technological deviation within the industry will become the basis for the IPR policy-making.

Key words: technological innovation, IPR protection, technological structure, technological gap