IPOB - Intellectual Property in Open Business Models
The major goal of the IPOB project is to make a tool box for IP strategy and management in open business models where all important factors and criteria are incorporated. Using the tools, companies can select and maintain an ideal IP management policy and create agreement satisfying all partners of an innovation network in question and by this way to promote the openness and effectiveness of innovation network.
Development of innovations and new business is more and more frequently done jointly together with two or more partners in a value network, which may include brand-owners, manufacturers, customers, end-users, universities, research institutes, etc. Thus we could speak about innovation network, including multiple parties and sources of innovation. This is in contrast with the traditional development of innovations and new business where that happens inside a single company (closed innovation process). The changes in the behaviour of many companies in the new business development have given rise to a new conception of innovation processes, collectively titled ‘Open Innovation’. Open innovation is a paradigm that assumes that companies could use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, when they look to advance their technology. Another new conception related to open innovation is ‘Open Business Models’, in which we simply mean models of making business in the landscape of open innovation.
Intellectual property (IP), intellectual property rights (IPR), and company’s IP strategy are important issues of new business development both in closed and open innovation models. The legal institution of intellectual property is based on the metaphor of static and linear understanding of innovation process. Accordingly, it stimulates stand-alone innovation by single companies. It is in contrast with the fluid, flexible and complex operational (business) process of a company in the landscape of open innovation. Therefore, one can wonder whether it stimulates open innovation.
In an innovation network there should be openness and trust as behavioural norms in order the innovation network to be effective in systemically producing new. It is a great challenge to build up and maintain such a network which could systemically create new. Questions related to intellectual property are an important part of the challenge. Wrong kind of focus and policy on IP would easily kill open ideation and conceptualization in a network (that is, creativity must be co-ordinated, not controlled). On the other hand, right kind of focus and policy on IP would stimulate systemic generation of new in the innovation network in a way where all partners in the network are satisfied.
IPOB (Intellectual Property in Open Business Models) looks for answers to a basic question, how could companies better gain from open innovation? There is no single answer to the question. It depends on company’s field of business, role in its value network, size, strategy, etc. Different viewpoints to the intellectual property in open or network innovation form the core of the study.
IPOB is an ensemble of two projects focusing to the subject Intellectual Property in Open Business models: IPOB Research and IPOB Industry. IPOB Research focuses on fundamental generic questions, while IPOB Industry project applies the generic results for the practical needs of different kinds of companies. Additionally, IPOB Netherlands interview study supports the common goals of the two IPOB projects.