skip to content

Innovation and Intellectual Property Management (IIPM) Laboratory

In 2015, countries globally adopted the Sustainable Development Goals to protect the planet, end poverty and ensure prosperity for all as part of a new sustainable development agenda. Effective transitions to sustainability require innovations with complex diffusion and adoption processes. The accompanied evolutionary technology development processes involve complex and intertwined IP related issues. The choice of the ‘right’ IP model however depend on a range of yet insufficiently understood contextual factors. Further, the role of IP for effective transitions to sustainability remains insufficiently understood. The project IPACST addresses the above gaps and contributes to the integration of the two fields - IP and sustainability - through frameworks that conceptualize (i) which, (ii) how and under (iii) what conditions IP models accelerate sustainable transitions, in connection with sustainable business models for high impact areas including clean energy and circular economy.

 

Funding support 

 

The project is jointly funded by the Belmont Forum and NORFACE through the Economics and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) and the Global Challenge Research Funds (GCRF) as well as the EU Horizon 2020 programme and other national agencies and ministries.

 

Project Lead: Dr Pratheeba Vimalnath

 

Relevant publications / conference presentations

 

Eppinger, E., N. Bocken, C. Dreher, A. Gurtoo, R. H. Chea, S. Karpakal, V. Prifti, F. Tietze, and P. Vimalnath. The Role of Intellectual Property Rights in Sustainable Business Models: Mapping IP Strategies in Circular Economy Business Models. 4th International Conference on New Business Models, Berlin. 1-3 July 2019.

 

Vimalnath, P., F. Tietze, E. Eppinger and J. Sternkopf. Open, semi open or closed? Towards an intellectual property strategy framework. 19th European Academy of Management (EURAM) Conference, Lisbon (Portugal). 26-28 June 2019.

 

Tietze, F., J. Sternkopf, E. Eppinger and P. Vimalnath. 2017. IP Strategies and Sustainable Technologies: When Do Open IP Strategies Increase Sustainable Impact?, DRUID17, New York, USA, June 12-14, 2017.

 

Tietze, F., J. Sternkopf, E. Eppinger and P. Vimalnath. 2017. IP strategies for sustainability - When does Open IP Increase Sustainable Impact?. 1st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMSCON 2017), California, USA. June 8-10, 2017.

 

Sternkopf, J., Tietze, F., Eppinger, E., & Vimalnath, P. Open IP strategies for enabling sustainability transitions. CTM Working Paper series, No. 10, 2016.

News & Blog articles

New working paper: Governance Technology in the Sharing Economy

17 July 2025

The sharing economy represents a transformative paradigm that fundamentally reshapes resource allocation, consumption patterns, and governance structures across various sectors. While enhancing sustainability through resource optimization, this paradigm introduces significant coordination, compliance, and value...

Welcome to Dr. Schäper

8 July 2025

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Thomas Schäper, who has recently joined us from the University of Münster as a visiting research scholar at the IIPM Lab. His research focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence, innovation, and intellectual property, with a particular emphasis on the use of large language models...

IIPM @ R&D Management Conference

1 July 2025

Qi Ang Du and Frank Tietze attended this year's R&D Management Conference in Pisa (Italy) organized by the Institute of Management of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna . Frank Tietze acted as one of the chairs for the IP Management track jointly organized since 2021 with Alfred Radauer, Martin Moehrle, Ioanna Stefan, Martin...