The new challenges of organizing intellectual property in complex industries: A discussion based on the case of Thales

Abstract

To cite this version:Cécile Ayerbe, Nathalie Lazaric, Michel Callois, Liliana Mitkova. The new challenges of organizing intellectual property in complex industries: a discussion based on the case of Thales. Technovation, Elsevier, 2014, 34, pp. Abstract:The defence industries in France and elsewhere have, in recent years, undergone important technological, organizational and institutional changes that have profoundly altered their architectures. These changes have introduced a new division of labour bringing new opportunities for interaction leading to the creation of additional assets. In this context, the issue of protecting innovations and their exploitation has become central. Managing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) requires industrial groups to draw on additional capabilities. This article analyzes these evolutions and focuses in particular on the new organizational arrangements that have accompanied them. Using the case of Thales, which in 2005 outsourced its Intellectual Property (IP), we answer questions such as: why should IP be outsourced; how should the outsourcing of IP activities be organized; and, how should capabilities involved in this new organizational arrangement be managed. These issues lie at the centre of this research and illustrate new challenges inherent to in-house and outsourced IPR management strategies.

Defense Firms Adapting to Major Changes in the French R&D Funding System

“…The need to absorb new capabilities coming from public institutions and their increasing internationalization led to firms repositioning themselves (Guillou et al, 2009) and made it necessary to define a new institutional framework, especially for IPR. In the French case, CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreements) provided little incentive for industrials since the property rights of services lie with the public entity (Ayerbe et al 2014). For this reason, they were redefined in the mid-1990s to create a satisfactory IPR policy at a time when companies were mutating and financialization was on the rise.…”

“…Thales embodies this new approach (Ayerbe et al, 2014). Thales has outsourced its intellectual property department since 2005 by creating a spin-off that handles its patents, as well as the intellectual property of other companies in the field.…”

“…The purpose of this article is to understand defense firms' repositioning within the NIS from a French point of view. In particular, companies have changed their R&D financing structures, as well as their innovation capabilities, in order to enhance their combination of internal and external assets (Lazaric and Raybaut 2014;Ayerbe et al, 2014).…”

The Effects of Absorptive Capacity, Intellectual Property and Innovation in SMEs

“…The result has implications in the activities derived from innovation, and especially on knowledge management, reflected by human capital and intellectual property activities (Ayerbe, Lazaric, Callois, & Mitkova, 2014). Despite knowledge capture, assimilation, and knowledge usage practices are usually not fully developed in SMEs, there are studies demonstrating the significant relationship between absorptive capacity, innovation, and intellectual capital (protection of knowledge) (Cassol, Gonçalo, & Ruas, 2016).…”

“…Despite knowledge capture, assimilation, and knowledge usage practices are usually not fully developed in SMEs, there are studies demonstrating the significant relationship between absorptive capacity, innovation, and intellectual capital (protection of knowledge) (Cassol, Gonçalo, & Ruas, 2016). Companies have also been shown to achieve the transformation of their internal and external knowledge into intangible assets, such as the development of new products, the increase in brand value, and the development of patents, which results in encouraging expectations in highly competitive markets (Ayerbe et al, 2014). Moreover, experts are beginning to regard absorptive capacity, organizational innovation, and open innovation as the most effective means to generate intangible assets and to develop intellectual property in SMEs (Lin, Wu, Chang, Wang, & Lee, 2012;Raymond et al, 2016).…”