Intellectual property strategies for green innovations - An analysis of the European Inventor Awards

To drive sustainability on a global scale for a carbon-neutral future, green innovations and a better understanding of how intellectual property (IP) impacts their research, development, and diffusion are needed. In this paper, we identify IP models adopted by green innovators in three innovation process phases, namely: research; development/commercialization; and diffusion phases, contrasting findings across three organization categories: new ventures; universities; and established firms. Our analysis is based on a qualitative content analysis of 57 green innovations recognized by the European Inventor Award, a highly prestigious international prize awarded annually by the European Patent Office. The analysis shows the degree of openness in IP sharing increasing along the innovation process. Unlike established firms who adopt closed IP models predominantly throughout the innovation process phases, new ventures and universities adopt closed IP models in research and development phases to protect inventions and later share the IP, primarily patents, with others via licensing (exclusive or non-exclusive) to accelerate commercialization and diffusion for broader sustainability impact. The findings point towards a need for interventions at managerial and IP policy level that move beyond incentivizing innovations through exclusivity towards facilitating strategic and collaborative approaches to IP sharing that can accelerate sustainability transitions.