72

The aim of this paper is to show that due to its informational dimension, the patent acts as a lever for the market orientation (MO) for high-tech companies (HTC). We conducted a literature review focused on the context of high technology, analyzing work on patents and on the concept of MO. The paper underlines the patent’s informational and marketing potential as well as the need for HTCs to produce and coordinate information thanks to MO. The MO concept contributes to reducing the level of uncertainty inherent in the environment of HTCs and to creating value for its market. Beyond this original theoretical contribution, the study of the patent’s potential leads us to propose an enrichment of the MO construct for the specific case of HTCs. At the managerial level, the conclusions of the paper encourage the sensitization of technological entrepreneurs to the challenges posed by MO through the use of all of the potential of the patent.