Intellectual property policies in early-phase research in public–private partnerships

An Intellectual Property (IP) policy analysis reveals the use of a variety of IP frameworks within early-phase biomedical Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). Dependent on the nature of the research objectives, enacted IP frameworks or ‘knowledge sharing strategies’ differ, ranging from ‘partnership oriented’ models towards ‘open’ models. While this variation seems instrumental to accommodate the variety in terms of objectives and (funding) partners present within PPPs, we also frequently observe vagueness and implicitness in terms of IP policies deployed. This latter feature seems to be less instrumental as coordination costs (within and outside the PPPS) are likely to increase.status: publishe