Technical standards that facilitate interoperability are believed to be crucial in the growth and development of the network and computer industry. In a modular and globalized economy, it is believed that the development of compatibility standards benefit from being widely accessible. On the...

Contract inflexibility seems to stem from two motivations: the urge to control the future, and a quest to improve economic efficiency. In thinking about whether and how contract inflexibility might be reduced, those human motivations must be taken into account. Reforms aimed at greater...

This paper analyses the evolution of the institution of patent by examining the normative meaning of business method patents. A business method is defined as a process of converting abstract data to useful information, to be applied in business activities. A business method patent is a patent...

Harmonization of the laws is considered to be one of the solutions to deal with fragmentation and complexities. A fundamental issue here is how to structure a coherent system of rules to manage with the complex social, technological and economic realities. The increase in the stake holders has...

Firms buy, sell, and glean from innovation. In other words, firms variously engage in commercialization of intangible innovation. Intangible innovations are primarily protected by intellectual property rights. Firms may only be able to leverage their intellectual assets solely through these...

As the paradigm of innovation becomes more user oriented and collaborative, to benefit from this changing paradigm, firms need to adjust their intellectual property rights management strategy and devise tools to manage openness. Crucially, firms need to resolve is how to interface the “closed...

Purpose – New business models, such as life‐cycle contracting, challenge the narrow and static understanding of contracts with hard and precise terms. The aim of this paper is to examine how flexibility could be incorporated into contracting processes. Design/methodology/approach – The...

The purpose of the paper is to empirically study firms' practises of knowledge and intellectual property (IP) management in customer–supplier relationships. The work applies the qualitative methodology of multiple case studies, and the material was collected in semi-structured interviews with...