With this work, Martin Bader examines how companies can take an int-
lectual property lead during the early stages of inter-firm research
and - velopment (R&D) collaborations. Previously, little research has
inves- gated the management of patents in the early phases of the
innovation process. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research on patent
management in the service industry sector, in which intellectual
property management remains a new concept. Bader offers a detailed
examination of the process by considering the service industry sector
and analyzes a current, relevant, complex problem prominent in
management research. The research at hand stems from two phenomena, both
of which are based on knowledge gains achieved in the area of
intellectual property management in recent years. First, the number of
announced patent app- cations has increased by 20-30% per year -- even
without considering multiple patent registrations in several countries.
Second, the number of collaborative agreements in the innovation process
has simultaneously - creased. However, many R&D collaborations
eventually turn out to be - successful, so the question arises: To whom
does the intellectual property generated by a collaboration belong? This
ownership often is decided and specified during the early phases of the
R&D process.