Excavating the role of NPEs in the innovation process: Did we start a mission possible?

The past decades have seen the rise of so-called Non-Producing/Practicing Entities (NPEs). NPEs do not use patents for appropriating own R&D investments necessary for developing technologies embedded in own products or services but solely focus on exploiting, enforcing or monetising patents. One might suspect that this behaviour impacts the innovation processes of firms and technological developments in different industrial sectors. Interviews with a panel of experts from a European country reveal most notably that the emergence of NPEs has changed the awareness of firms’ management towards patents and the way of managing them. The results also indicate that the contemporary situation is still diffuse and immature, so that their full impact is difficult to understand, even from an interpretivists’ perspective.This research was supported by a Small Research Grant from the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE at http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICMIT.2014.694241

Basic memory module

Construction and electrical characterization of the 4096 x 2-bit Basic Memory Module (BMM) are reported for the Space Ultrareliable Modular Computer (SUMC) program. The module uses four 2K x 1-bit N-channel FET, random access memory chips, called array chips, and two sense amplifier chips, mounted and interconnected on a ceramic substrate. Four 5% tolerance power supplies are required. At the Module, the address, chip select, and array select lines require a 0-8.5 V MOS signal level. The data output, read-strobe, and write-enable lines operate at TTl levels. Although the module is organized as 4096 x 2 bits, it can be used in a 8196 x 1-bit application with appropriate external connections. A 4096 x 1-bit organization can be obtained by depopulating chips

The emergence of care robotics - A patent and publication analysis

Care robots are a means to support elderly people affected by physical or mental handicaps to remain as autonomous as possible or regain already lost autonomy (e.g. running stairs). They also support care-takers when working with handicapped. We review the emergence of care robotics and particularly offer answers to two research questions: Which organizations and individuals in which countries have been and are active in research and development? How has research and development emerged with regard to activity focus, intensity levels and cooperation? The analysis rests on PATSTAT patent and ISI Web of Science publication data. Bibliographic and network analyses are conducted on country, organization (i.e. universities and firms) and individual levels. We find that care robotics research and development activities have constantly increased since the late 1970s. Today Japanese universities and firms are the most active players, while in early stages US and European organizations pioneered care robotics research. Starting from six disjunctive small networks, several highly interconnected care robotics research networks have evolved. However, most cooperation clusters are still found within the same country. Only few international hubs emerged. Among them are two Japanese organizations (ATR, AIST) and Carnegie Mellon University, US.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004016251400275

To own or not to own: How ownership impacts user innovation-An empirical study

User innovation studies have mainly concentrated on markets in which users purchase products and, thus, both own and control the acquired good. However, users also use products that they do not own, in which case ownership and control are separated. Property rights theory predicts that the separation of ownership and control is a user innovation barrier. When innovating, users need to accommodate an additional actor: the owner. Separation of ownership and control thus induces uncertainty and complexity in the user innovation process, increasing users' costs to innovate. The results of hierarchical regression analyses of data from 743 German rowers show that separation of ownership and control negatively impacts user innovativeness. Use experience positively moderates this relationship with regard to idea generation, but negatively with regard to idea realization. To remedy the negative impact, we propose approaches to manufacturers that employ co-creation-based innovation strategies (e.g. grant back clauses in use contracts).This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166497214001588

Managing ecosystems for service innovation: A dynamic capability view

The success of service innovations is intertwined with firms’ capabilities to coordinate, orchestrate, and collaborate with a set of external actors. Adopting an ecosystem and dynamic capability perspective, this article examines ecosystem-related capabilities for developing service innovation in product-centric firms. The research uses a mixed-methods approach focusing on the energy utility sector: (1) a survey with 133 managers from 28 firms that allows a comparison of ecosystem-related capabilities between firms with high and low service-innovation intensity; and (2) a complementary interview study with 8 of these firms that have high service-innovation intensity, allowing a detailed understanding of the relevant ecosystem-related capabilities to be developed. From the data we derive a set of 12 ecosystem-related capabilities for service innovation related to the sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring of external resources. The results indicate that firms with high service-innovation intensity possess significantly stronger ecosystem-related capabilities than firms with lower service-innovation intensity. Those firms also seem to sense and seize external opportunities and resources to a greater extent in order to reconfigure their service-related ecosystems. The findings also show that successful service innovators consider not only value-adding partnerships, such as suppliers and customers, to be relevant for service innovation, but also relationships with non-direct value-adding ecosystem stakeholders (e.g., local governments, communities, legislators)

Stage Gate Decision Making: A Scoping Review of Technology Strategic Selection Criteria for Early-Stage Projects

Innovation is a hybrid concept that has evolved over time and adapts itself to changing condition. It plays a major role in the growth and economic competitiveness of firms, and consequently, firms invest in innovation to build knowledge and thus increase competitive advantage. Front End of Innovation (FEI) projects, and in particular technology development projects, are therefore a fundamental component of innovation and a crucial factor in developing new competitive advantage. To effectively and objectively manage and evaluate these early stage technology projects, which are by nature uncertain, a number of firms deploy some form of stage gate processes, utilizing strategic decision criteria. Via a descriptive scoping literature review, we identify 46 articles, which contain 473 uniquely identified strategic selection criteria that can fit in 9 categories. We find that technical feasibility is the most frequently occurring unique selection criteria, whereas the market category is the largest category by size of unique individual criteria with 23.3% of the share total. In this research, we contribute to the on-going discussion about early stage technology projects and their effective evaluation using strategic technology selection criteria. The summary of criteria provided with definitions may serve as guidelines for technology and innovation managers.EPSRC DTP Studentship for Ph

Open IP strategies for enabling sustainability transitions

As global societies are evolving to knowledge economies, intellectual property (IP) is becoming increasingly important. Contemporaneously, firms are opening up their innovation processes in contrast to the internally focused closed innovation paradigm, making IP of substantial relevance for firms as well as for societies. However, in spite of this relevance, existing literature about Open IP approaches is scarce, and most existing investigations are focusing on the software industry. This paper links Open IP to social and environmental issues, and particularly discusses IP strategies against the backdrop of sustainability transitions. The challenges for innovative, small companies to compete with incumbents and their role to contribute to sustainability transitions are demonstrated and suggestions for promising future research are presented

IP strategies and policies for and against evergreening

Evergreening is the strategic extension of the duration of a temporary monopolistic or market dominant position by means of IP strategies, and in practice patent strategies particularly. This paper explores the evergreening phenomenon. After an introductory description of evergreening and its associated innovation and IP policy issues, the paper provides a literature review. We further present one case of the pharmaceutical blockbuster drug Losec (Omeprazol) that became the world’s best selling drug from 1996 to 2000. The case is accompanied by short evergreeing examples based on other IPRs such as trade marks. A theoretical part discusses different types of evergreening approaches along with simple models. The paper ends with a discussion of implications for managerial counterstrategies and innovation and IP policies

Integrating intellectual property and sustainable business models: The SBM-IP canvas

Companies attempt to address global sustainability challenges through innovating products, services, and business models. This paper focuses on sustainable business model (SBM) innovations as a way to systemically transform businesses towards sustainability. It has been widely recognized that strategic approaches to using intellectual property (IP) need to be aligned with business model innovation for commercial success. Here we suggest that IP, aligned with SBMs, can also be used to create not only commercial, but also societal and environmental impact. Knowledge about how to best align IP with SBMs to drive sustainability transitions remains limited. We address this gap by developing an SBM-IP canvas that integrates IP considerations into each of the SBM canvas building blocks. We do this by employing relevant theoretical concepts from three literature streams, namely the business model (including SBM), IP, and innovation literature. We use case examples to illustrate different IP considerations that are relevant for the SBM-IP building blocks. These examples show that different IP types (e.g., patents, trademarks) and ways of using them (e.g., more or less restrictive licensing) are applied by companies in relation to the different building blocks. While covering new theoretical ground, the proposed SBM-IP canvas can help decision makers understand how they can use different IP types strategically to propose, create, deliver, and capture sustainable value for society, environment, and the business.</jats:p