Background, foreground, sideground and postground intellectual property

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In the context of research and development (R&D) collaborations, background, foreground, sideground and postground intellectual property (IP) are four distinct forms of intellectual property assets. These are included in the broader and more general categories of knowledge in R&D collaborations or open innovation. While background and foreground IP and knowledge are fairly established concepts, sideground and postground IP and knowledge have more recently been added to the conceptual vocabulary. This set of four concepts was first introduced by Prof. Ove Granstrand in a European Commission report in 2001. [1]

The four knowledge/IP types are defined by Granstrand and Holgersson (2014): [2]

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References

  1. Ove Granstrand (2001). IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) Aspects of Internet Collaborations (Report). European Commission. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  2. Granstrand, Ove; Holgersson, Marcus (2014). "The challenge of closing open innovation: The intellectual property disassembly problem". Research-Technology Management. 57 (5): 19–25. doi:10.5437/08956308X5705258. S2CID   154502366.

Further reading