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Intellectual property protection mechanisms in collaborative new product development
Author(s) -
Manzini Raffaella,
Lazzarotti Valentina
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
randd management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.253
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1467-9310
pISSN - 0033-6807
DOI - 10.1111/radm.12126
Subject(s) - intellectual property , business , process (computing) , product (mathematics) , new product development , service (business) , knowledge management , empirical research , computer science , process management , marketing , philosophy , epistemology , geometry , mathematics , operating system
Intellectual property ( IP ) is widely recognized to be a critical issue for implementing open innovation and collaborative research in new product development ( NPD ). Several intellectual property protection mechanisms ( IPPMs ) can be employed by companies to protect their critical technology and know‐how (patents, designs, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights). However, how they should be used in the different phases of collaborative NPD processes is still debatable, and few empirical studies regarding the issue are available at the moment. This paper, which is based upon the case of an I talian NPD service company named MR & D , focuses on one main question: how can companies protect ideas, technology, and know‐how in collaborations concerning different phases of the NPD process? It proposes an initial tentative framework to answer this question by way of an analysis of pertaining literature and a case study.