AIMS Workshop Caen 2010
Corbel, P.; Chomienne, H. and Serfati, C. « Laboratoires publics, entreprises et pôles de compétitivité : le projet commun, instrument de management de tensions paradoxales », AIMS workshop « Les modèles d’innovation ouverte : quelles pratiques pour quels enjeux ? », Caen, March 2010
Abstract:
In a context of open innovation, relations between public laboratories and industry should logically develop. However, the relationships between these two types of players are made more complex by their widely divergent views on the appropriation of knowledge. On the one hand, the fundamental mission of public research bodies is to advance knowledge and make it available to the public. On the other hand, one of the fundamental aims of companies is to appropriate parcels of knowledge in order to gain a competitive advantage. One of the tools of this appropriation is the system of intellectual property (IP) rights.
We therefore looked more specifically at the role of IP rights in relations between public research laboratories and industry through a qualitative study (based mainly on 14 semi-structured interviews with IP managers or managers responsible for relations with public laboratories in companies, and managers responsible for promoting research in universities, engineering schools, hospitals and public research bodies). We also cross-referenced the results of this study with those of a study carried out on the operation of the System@tic competitiveness cluster (mainly 13 interviews conducted with various types of players: managers of companies - large groups and SMEs -, research laboratories, local authorities and the cluster's permanent team). Part of the questions asked as part of this study concerned the management of IP rights.
One of the key ideas to emerge from this combination of two empirical studies is that the real differences in the way in which knowledge appropriation issues are approached are accentuated by the way in which the players see each other. As a result, the implementation of joint projects helps to reduce antagonisms between players.