Constructing Openness on Open Innovation Platforms

Emelie Kuusk-Jonsson and Pernilla Book both have an LL.M and M.Sc. in Intellectual Capital Management from Gothenburg University. They did an internship at Qatar Science and Technology Park, Doha. Emelie now works as an associate at CIP Professional Services, Gothenburg and Pernilla as an associate at Mannheimer Swartling Law firm, Gothenburg.

The post-genomic era has lead to a paradigm shift in the Life Science Industry, driven by technological advances and increased upstream patenting, resulting in Open Innovation initiatives to sustain growth in an increasingly competitive, knowledge driven environment. Open Innovation Platforms is a dynamic model for facilitating collaboration, and this work aims to uncover the underlying legal constructions used to regulate openness on Open Innovation Platforms, also creating a toolbox consisting of the legal and contractual models necessary to support the construction of openness and collaboration. The work benchmarks a model for designing Open Innovation Platforms and takes a theoretical standpoint in the socio-legal approach, viewing regulatory interventions and constructions of contractual and intellectual property law as the legal framework enabling creation of openness, which in turn affects the choices made in the business arena. The work highlights; the complexity of regulating multi-stakeholder relations, existing structures on Life Science platforms and the many layers of openness created by contractual solutions with the regulatory system as a base.