Tim’s doubts
Tim paces up and down his large office, thinking about the meeting he just had with James, an internationally renowned expert in the R&D team of his company. A crucial innovation project they have been working on has encountered significant delays. The team and the management are worried that they may not have satisfactory results to launch a new product in time, to stay ahead of their competition.
Tim thought about the way James sang praises about open innovation and how it could be a solution to their predicament. James proposed to openly cooperate with a few organizations who had the necessary expertise and even some additional budget; he said it could be a great boost to the project and that it could help catch up on lost time. Tim, who was already anxious, wondered if James was right. Could open innovation be the solution? James had dodged Tim’s questions:
“How do we protect the knowledge we have developed until now in open innovation? Would we risk losing our crown jewels to whom we cooperate with?”
Something about the way James avoided these questions made Tim uneasy. The innovation project that was started by his management and an eager team, was at the brink of falling through. Tim was looking out of the window hoping to find answers to the many questions that were stirring in his mind.
“There is a solution, but is it safe? Would our interests still be secure?
Would we be able to capture the value of our innovation, even if we work with another organization?
How can we make the best use of open innovation? I don’t want to squander the crown jewels of my company.”
Many organizations are in search of a sound Intellectual Property strategy
Research[1] shows that although many organizations are keen on cooperating with other organizations for the benefits it may give, many of them do not know how to deal optimally with their own knowledge and intellectual property in such collaborations.
These organizations do not have a robust strategy for Intellectual Property and therefore struggle in open innovation or collaborative innovation settings. They put their investments, team resources, knowledge, and ultimately their project at risk. While so, capturing the value of innovation – technically, legally, and/or commercially, becomes a challenge.
What if…
Elsewhere in the building, James muses about continuing his project. How nice it would be to collaborate with other experts to boost his project; if he would know for sure that they were the partner of choice! How comfortable it must be if he knew for sure how to protect their own interests in the knowledge and Intellectual Property that his company has heavily invested until now. How he wished he had the right answers to convince Tim to collaborate openly. Had he done that, he may have persuaded Tim to call the other organization sooner than later to discuss a potential collaboration. How wonderful it would be to catch up on time and deliver the results that everyone has been waiting for anxiously. James sees himself at the product launch… proud of his work! It is the moment he has been waiting for.
Craft your Innovation and Intellectual Property strategy!
You can get started on your strategy today! Even if it is not a grand scheme for your whole organization, you could start off for a project. A tailor made, simple to understand strategy, towards which your team too contributes, can be very beneficial for innovation, enabling you to get more out of partnerships, capture the value of the innovation, and in achieving commercial success.
Three tips for Tim and James… and you!
- Considerwhat your organization’s core activities are and what they will be in the future. This exercise will help identify which knowledge/Intellectual Property is essential for your organization, what protection measures you can put in place, whether you would give others access to it, how you would own it. The knowledge or Intellectual Property, which is core to your business, is something over which you often want to have ownership and access (freedom to operate is key). Next to this, you can devise suitable business models for the knowledge/Intellectual Property or the product which will embody them.
- Finda partner who complements the project and the goals of your organization, rather than a partner who may have an overlap in similar activities and/or scope, to avoid feeding a competitor or potential competitor.
- Have open negotiations with your potential partner. Put your cards on the table regarding your interests, your organizational culture, who contributes what to the innovation, what model or technology is important for the innovation, etc. Collaborating is easier when there is mutual trust and transparency. This will enable the collaborators to each get what they want out of a cooperation – mutual benefits!
Conclusion
A robust strategy that is clear on what to do with crown jewels, how to select the right partner, how to collaborate etc., will go a long way in landing better working relationships and deals, ensuring a faster and smoother pace of work, and consequently success in Open Innovation.
Do you want to learn more about how you can co-innovate without squandering your crown jewels? Join one of our workshops!
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[1] Eindrapport Periodieke beleidsevaluatie Intellectuele Eigendomsbeleid, versie 1 mei 2018, available at https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2018/05/01/periodieke-beleidsevaluatie-intellectuele-eigendomsbeleid