open innovation and intellectual property

Manchester Institute of Innovation Research

PATINNOVA April 2009

D. Evolution of the IP system D2: IP rights and open innovation

Chair: Ian Miles


MBS



Beneath the surfaceOur attention tends to be fixated on the things that are easy to see – in the case of IP, that is especially patents. Which mean different things to different parties.

But we know there are many other forms of IP protection, including

other formal instruments,

contracts of various kinds, and

informal mechanisms.

IP strategy typically involves mixtures of these.



When Icebergs Collide…



Open Innovation

Open Source

User-Generated Innovation

Crowdsourcing

Outsourcing

Collaborative R&D

Distributed Innovation Processes

Innovation Systems and Networks…



What’s New?Innovation “beyond the boundaries of the firm” has been around for a very long time – Europe is familiar with innovation networks; innovation supporting services in R&D, design, consultancy, integration, and much more; collaborative projects in research, standards-setting, market development, and much more….

These are almost certainly becoming more important

And there are two qualitatively different features of Open Innovation today



NEW FEATURES - 1Information Technology and

Cyberculture• FLOSS, Open Source, as a model for

software development• Web 2.0 social networking for content,

creative, and other novelty• New IT-based tools to support collaborative

working, crowdsourcing, etc.• These can be important beyond the IT and

software sectors – eg Lego



NEW FEATURES - 2Changing Management Paradigms in the

Knowledge Economy• Focus on Core Competences Outsourcing

(and Offshoring) of Basic and Sophisticated Functions for Efficiency and Effectiveness

• Increasingly Complex and Multifaceted Knowledge Requirements Need to mobilise social and technical knowledge from diverse sources

• Cooperation alongside competition Serious rethinking about how innovation should be conducted, and by whom



Benefits of O.I.

Not just cost-saving and economies of scale; not even just more flexible and agile…

Access to specialist knowledge, skills, and other capabilities

Closer to business partners and users

Exposure to alternative ways of organising innovative effort

Learning more about the innovation system – including users



Open Innovation IcebergIT & Cyberculture Management Paradigms

A huge range of different OI approaches:One-off versus embedded strategySubstantial collaboration versus scanning and polling Funded research programmes (enforcing OI) versus autonomous initiativesFew versus many collaboratorsHub-and-spoke versus (virtual) networksInnovation specialists (suppliers, firms, Universities, KIBS) versus users (customer firms, even consumers), and employees in different divisions



What, where, and who

With many partners engaged in Open Innovation, from diverse backgrounds and knowledge bases

Variations in IP instruments and strategies

Likely to be many diverse experiences – so need to look for patterns beyond the usual suspects – or at least, be very cautious about assuming that looking at the tips of the icebergs tells us the story of what lies beneath.



Panorama

Our presenters will be:

• John Rigby, Manchester Business School

• Stuart Smith, 3 Sheep (SME)

• Jako Eleveld, Philips



End of presentation