Managing the business risks of open innovation | PRIMO Europe

Focus on the factors that could redefine intellectual-property competition in your industry.

Source:?McKinsey Quarterly
Authors:?Oliver Alexy and Markus Reitzig

Several years ago, something interesting happened in the infrastructure software sector: IBM and a number of other companies pledged some of their own patents to the public to create IP-free zones in parts of the value chain. They did so when a 2004 report showed that Linux, the open-source operating system that had emerged as a viable, low-cost alternative to established operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows and Unix, was inadvertently infringing on more than 250 patents. ?¹?By voluntarily pledging not to enforce hundreds of IBM?s own patents so long as users of the IP were pursuing only open-source purposes, the company led the creation of an alliance of patent holders dependent on (and willing to defend) open-source software against lawsuits.²?One result: IBM substantially increased the share of its new products based on Linux. Read more >

Remark: you need a free membership of McKinsey Quarterly

Source: http://www.primo-europe.eu/2012/11/managing-the-business-risks-of-open-innovation/

richard threlkeld moonrise kingdom coachella lineup coachella 2012 lineup school delays joran van der sloot honey badger