From ownership to stewardship: reimagining intellectual property governance through the Knowledge Commons Framework

Contemporary intellectual property (IP) governance remains strongly shaped by proprietary logics of exclusivity, control, and rights allocation, even as knowledge production becomes increasingly collaborative, cumulative, and digitally mediated. This study examines how the Knowledge Commons Framework can inform a stewardship-oriented reconceptualization of IP governance. Using a qualitative conceptual design combining systematic literature synthesis with abductive theory building, the analysis integrates scholarship on intellectual property, commons governance, stewardship, knowledge governance, responsible innovation, and collaborative innovation. The findings identify four recurring governance deficits access, participation, coordination, and sustainability that rights-centered approaches do not fully resolve. In response, the study develops an IP-specific stewardship framework organized around inclusivity, responsibility, adaptability, and sustainability. The contribution does not lie in presenting stewardship as a new concept, but in theorizing how established stewardship principles can be integrated with the Knowledge Commons Framework to connect proprietary authority with continuing governance responsibilities. The framework is further operationalized through applications to AI training data, open science, and traditional knowledge, and through policy pathways addressing institutional design, accountability, and sector-specific governance, while preserving innovation incentives and recognizing institutional risks and power asymmetries.